The Most Unlikely Alliance Ever
by I Took the One Less Travelled
Summary: Glimmer and Katniss are allies! Glimmer's insane, Katniss is too trusting. The Head Gamemaker is totally seduced by Glimmer's awesomeness. Crack!fic, major OOC alert. WARNING: As of chapter 5, there is now official femslash. It isn't at all explicit, don't worry about that.
1. Training Day: 1 and 2

**Because I am out of my mind, I somehow came up with this mess. I plead not guilty by way of insanity. Crack!fic, OOC. My first real attempt at humour, though I probably failed miserably. I'm better at writing angst. Also, explicit language and somewhat mature themes, so be warned. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. **

**Glitter Plant, AKA The Most Unlikely Alliance In The History Of The Hunger Games. Ever.  
**

Training, Day 1:

Glimmer always liked striking things. Maybe that was because she was striking herself. Striking people, well, people who could still be striking when standing next to her were rare. When she was on the train to the Capitol watching the reapings, only one person ended up striking.

Katniss Everdeen. The girl from District Twelve. The girl who, coming from a district that only had two victors in seventy-three years, hurled herself up there as a volunteer to save her sister's life. The Capitol may call it what they liked, but everyone else knew that she was dying for her sister. They all knew.

So, Katniss succeeded in catching Glimmer's attention. That meant little. Lots of people managed to catch Glimmer's attention. Few of them managed to keep it. The first time that she saw Katniss after that was in the tribute parade. Her carriage went first. As a result, her carriage also stopped first, which gave her the chance to turn around and look back at the other tribute carriages.

Katniss Everdeen was on fire. Oh, so was the weak little moron in the carriage next to her, but Katniss Everdeen was the really striking one. And then they held hands. Or, more specifically, Peeta took Katniss' hand, Katniss slapped at him and Peeta said something in undertone to her, when she finally relented and thrust her hand back into his.

Right then and there, Glimmer decided that her and Katniss Everdeen were going to be allies. It didn't matter what Katniss said about it. Glimmer always got what she wanted, and she wanted Katniss Everdeen. Sure, as a Career Tribute from District One, Glimmer should have allied with Marvel, Cato and Clove.

Instead, on the first day of training, Glimmer got her food and went over to the table that the two tributes from Twelve were sitting at. "Hi!" She said, in that perky tone that she knew annoyed everyone (Marvel) into being willing to do whatever she wanted, if only to make her go away. "Can I sit here?" Both the girl and boy stared at her in astonishment, and Glimmer took that to be ascent.

She settled down at the table, both Katniss and Peeta gaping at her. "You shouldn't do that, you'll get premature wrinkles." She reached across the table to use her thumb to smooth the skin between Katniss' brows.

"Doubt it's likely that we'll live long enough to get wrinkles, anyway," Katniss muttered, clearly unable to help herself. Peeta elbowed her in the ribs and Glimmer laughed.

"Peeta. Would you mind letting me speak to your fellow tribute alone for a moment?"

Both of them stared at her suspiciously before Peeta nodded and slid off in another direction.

"Is white bread over there your ally?" Glimmer wanted to know.

"No," Katniss muttered. "We just know each other a bit, from home." Her cheeks coloured. "My family went through a rough patch a few years ago and he helped me out some—and why am I telling you this? Why are you even here, One?"

"Glimmer," she informed her with a beatific smile. "And because I want an ally."

"And _you_, gorgeous Career Tribute from One, want me, the emaciated, starving, poor, average looking girl from the district that has had only two victors in the entire history of the Hunger Games?"

"I like striking things. And not much catches my attention."

"Figures that someone like you would be interested in an alliance because of my costume."

"And because of the reaping," Glimmer answered cheerfully. "That—I have to say, it was the bravest thing that I have ever seen."

"Cinna said that."

"Cinna?"

"My stylist."

"Fire guy."

"Yes," Katniss said warily. "Now, honestly, _Glimmer_, what exactly do you want? You've already _got_ allies, they're over there. And I think that the guy from Two hates my guts. So if you're trying to get me to trust you, you won't."

"Please, this is The Hunger Games. Nobody trusts anybody, unless they want a knife in their back. But those Careers would toss me to the wolves without a second thought. I—I've watched the Games before, I know what happens in those Career packs. I don't want to die like that. Maybe I'm going to die, but it shouldn't be because my own ally stabbed me in the back. And I don't want to be the kind of person that would win against them."

"So why me?"

"To make a statement? Because you're the Girl on Fire? Because I have a feeling that you're a lot more competent than you let on?"

Somehow, Katniss must have sensed her sincerity. "So, One and Twelve. We must be making Games history."

"Undoubtedly," Glimmer agreed with a smirk, offering a hand. Katniss hesitated for only a moment before taking it. Then she gestured Peeta back.

"Peeta, this is Glimmer, from One. She's going to eat with us."

"Sure, Katniss. If that's what you want." They ate mostly in silence, Peeta staring at Glimmer and Glimmer looking at Katniss, who was ignoring them both. Then lunch was over and back to the training room.

"So, Twelve, what are you good at?"

Katniss looked wary.

"Please. If we're going to be allies, I'm going to have to know," she pointed out.

"Shooting. I'm good with a bow. I hunt, outside the fence in Twelve and I sell the meat at the Hob—the black market."

"That's good. We'll be fed. I'm better close range. Knives. So, I'm guessing that your mentor told you not to reveal anything. So did mine. I figure that we can do the survivalist stuff for now." Glimmer latched onto Katniss' arm like a leech. Katniss flinched, but did nothing to shove her off, and they instead made it across the gym to the edible plants area, where they discuss berries, nuts and other fruits.

They could both feel the eyes on them, Peeta's with a faint air of bemusement and Cato, Clove and Marvel watching them with contempt. Glimmer didn't care. She had officially abandoned them before they could do the same to her. Unless something goes wrong, Glimmer and Katniss will part ways in the final eight or so, and then their alliance will be over. But Glimmer knew that Katniss was not the type of person to end an alliance with a knife in the back, and that's better than she would get with the Careers.

Fortunately (or, unfortunately, as the case may be) by the end of the training day, or almost, Glimmer and Katniss found themselves becoming genuine friends. Katniss, when she actually opened her mouth to speak, had a dry, deadpan snark that thoroughly complimented Glimmer's more obvious bubbliness.

And since Glimmer got what she wanted, she decided that they were both going to come out of this arena alive. She told Katniss this, but Katniss just shook her head.

"Pipe dream, Glim," she said, eyeing the person that had recently become her best friend in the world besides Gale. "Won't happen."

"If our alliance entertains the audience enough, then they will," Glimmer shot back. "Our banter, genuine friendship. That might get them to change the rules. And there's another thing, too."

"What's that?" Katniss asked warily. She was already acquainted with Glimmer's idea of a plan, with some of the ideas that she had been dropping about the arena.

"Come on, this way. Just play along." She grabbed Katniss' hand and dragged her to the door in the hallway that led to the Gamemakers.

"Excuse me, we need to speak with Seneca Crane," Glimmer said winningly. She gave her most perfect innocent smile to the Gamemaker that had answered the door.

"Speak—with Seneca Crane?"

"Yes," Glimmer agreed, elbowing Katniss in order to get her to act more genial. "That's not against the rules, is it?"

"No, no. Not at all. It's just—girls, it's just not done."

"Well, we're doing it," Katniss snapped, not sure what Glimmer's plan was, but willing to back her up all the same.

The Gamemaker backed away from the door, soon to be replaced by his boss, the young attractive man with a funny beard (but the way that fashion was in the Capitol, the guy was the height of 'tame') and a confused look on his face.

"Katniss, Glimmer," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Maybe somewhere private? That's not against the rules, is it?"

Shaking his head, Seneca Crane led them to a private office. "Now, how can I help you? I can't give you an advantage in the arena, that's not very sporting—"

"That's not true. You give people advantages all the time, if they offer a good show. We're just being less covert about it. Everyone knows how this goes. We're promising you a _very_ good show."

"That's an... interesting assessment," he admitted. "But, nonetheless true. But why exactly are you telling me?"

"Katniss and I have arranged an alliance," Glimmer answered candidly. Seneca Crane's mouth dropped open.

"Exactly. The Career tribute from District One and the only volunteer ever to grace the stage from Twelve, allies. She's already given you a good show, between sacrificing herself for her sister and the fire. This, though, you'll make Hunger Games history. You'll go down as the Head Gamemaker who arranged one of the only alliances never done before. You'll be so famous, you can't walk down the street to the store without being mobbed. And all we want is a few things in return."

"Like what?" He challenged, eyeing them interestedly.

"Kat?"

"A bow. Make sure that there's a bow and arrows in there. And plenty of huntable game. You give me those, and I can almost guarantee that we'll make it to the final eight. And you want that—it wouldn't do for this brilliant alliance to be snuffed out before it has a chance to light a fire under the viewers," Katniss sighed. "I mean, there's always chance. The Careers, the bloodbath at the cornucopia, if we can't find water. But we're pretty resourceful people. I know the woods like the back of my hand. And Glim's been trained for this her whole life. But the ones who have been trained for this their whole lives always team up together and hunt down the weaklings, then start stabbing each other in the back in the final eight or so. That must get boring after awhile. In fact, I bet that you've been trying to find ways to circumvent those alliances, but you can't do anything except start picking them off."

"That's very true," he admitted. "A bow. Anything else?"

"Well, if you could put it near her, that would be excellent," Glimmer offered. "The way that everything's always spread all over the cornucopia? Just have the bow close to her so that she can grab it and go. And it would also be nice if we could be standing next to each other, and maybe some other useful items as well."

"Is that all?"

"Well, any help that you can give us along the way would be appreciated," Glimmer said, her voice going low and breathy. "After all, _you're_ the Head Gamemaker, you would know better than us how to keep a tribute alive. And also... if it comes down to us at the final two, it would be shame if we had to kill each other, yes?"

Seneca Crane gulped as Glimmer advanced towards him, running a fingertip up his chest gently. "The most popular alliance in history, terminated by a technicality? Don't you think that an exception can be made, just this once? In the name of Panem unity, after all. I would be _veeerrry_ grateful."

Seneca Crane stared at her, eyes bugging out of his head. "I—we'll see."

"That's nice of you," Glimmer purred, removing her finger and blindly reaching back for Katniss' hand. "We really should be getting back to the training room now. Thank you for everything."

They left the Head Gamemaker standing, shocked in the middle of his office. It was unlikely that anyone had ever thought to try that before.

Katniss picked at her food that night at dinner, wondering exactly what Glimmer was doing at this moment. Glimmer was, despite her best efforts to prevent it, a friend. A good one. Someone who she had clicked with faster and better than any other girl in her entire life. And she was probably having sex with Seneca Crane.

"Katniss?"

"Yes?"

"That's the third time I've called you," Haymitch slurred. It seemed like, drunk or not, his tongue had gotten stuck so that he always slurred his speech. "What happened at training today? Peeta said that you two ate lunch with someone else. He wouldn't say who, just that you two were friendly after it."

"Ally," Katniss muttered, unsure how Haymitch would react to this. "I've got an ally."

"Oh?" He quirked one eyebrow in curiosity. "Who is it? Who would you hook up with? And how do you know you can trust them?"

"Hunter instinct," Katniss shot back scathingly. "And I might as well tell you, since Peeta will anyway. The girl from One. Glimmer."

"Career," Haymitch observed. Katniss couldn't tell whether or not he approved. They stared at each other nastily.

"Children!" Peeta broke in. "Haymitch, you're the mentor. What do you think of Katniss' alliance?"

"It sucks. She can't trust that girl as far as the little one from eleven could throw her."

"I trust her," Katniss said boldly, not sure what had sparked it. It was as if she and Glimmer were meant to be best friends, like they would have been from when they were little if they hadn't been born in different districts.

"Do you?" Haymitch said nastily. "And why is that?"

"She told me the truth. That if she teamed up with the Careers, they'd stab her in the back. And she said that she liked striking things, and that I had managed to be striking."

"True to the first, and I can't really argue with the second," Peeta broke in, looking leery. "I don't know her. And she seemed nice enough. But she could be pretending."

"She'll need someone. Those other Careers looked mad," Katniss reasoned, trying to figure out herself why she trusted Glimmer so much. "That she had abandoned them. She'll get killed in a second if she betrays me. She was risking a lot. Because she wanted me."

"Really, Katniss!" Haymitch snorted. "I had honestly thought that you were above that kind of naivety. She _wanted_ you. That's ludicrous."

"She wanted sponsors. And the Capitol would _love_ it. One and Twelve, teaming up? They'll leap onto the idea. And they already love me. _And_," Katniss added defensively. "She's off seducing the Head Gamemaker right now. We made a deal with him. She got me a bow."

"You can't make a deal with the Gamemakers!"

"What do you mean, seducing?" Effie Trinket broke in, her voice accelerated to the most annoying screech that anyone had ever heard. Haymitch dived under the table, Peeta lurched backwards like someone had slapped him and Katniss clamped her hands over her ears and moaned. Effie Trinket was, on top of being despicable enough to enjoy arranging the bloody deaths of teenagers for entertainment, a complete dumbass. Katniss had only needed to hear that ridiculous stuff that she had pulled out of her ass about coal turning to pearls to know that.

She also had the most annoying voice on the face of the planet. "That poor little girl should not get taken advantage of by a man!" She shrieked, clearly having figured out the meaning of the word 'seduce' all by herself. Good girl.

Peeta joined Haymitch under the table, taking cover from the flying spittle. Katniss, well, Katniss was made from sterner stuff than that. She had what Glimmer seemed to think took to be a victor. And she planned to be one. With a bow, you couldn't count her out. She leaned away from the steady stream before Effie finally shut her mouth.

"_As I was saying_," she interrupted, glaring around. "Glimmer is seducing Seneca Crane for other reasons—our deal with him was independent from that." She wasn't about to tell him that Glimmer was trying to seduce Seneca Crane into changing the immutable rules of The Hunger Games. "It's really simple, honestly."

"What's simple, Sweetheart?" Haymitch asked nastily.

"Our deal. With Seneca Crane. We came and told him about our alliance—and we promised to give him a good show. That's all. That's all they really want, actually. And he understood that we were promising to give it to him. And all that we wanted in return was—" Katniss glanced at Peeta in alarm. "A few things."

"Your funeral, sweetheart."

"Perhaps not," Katniss shot back, baring her teeth. Allies were good. They'd get more sleep, more food and they'd watch each other's backs. She'd learned this from years of watching the Games, and obviously something made Glimmer think that she was worth it, or else she wouldn't have ditched the careers.

The elevator _dinged_ from the foyer, signaling that someone had come into the main lines. Thinking that it must have been Cinna or Portia, since Effie, Haymitch and Peeta were already up here, Katniss ignored it. Until...

"I need to talk to Katniss!" The perky, ridiculously _blonde_ voice unmistakably belonged to her new ally. Katniss could practically _hear_ her batting her eyelashes. "It isn't against the rules, is it?"

The person that she was speaking to, probably Effie, obviously gave non-verbal ascent before Katniss decided to follow thr voice. And just because Katniss was being anti-social and moping, it didn't mean that the others were. Judging by the look of disbelief on Haymitch's face, he hadn't believed her until now.

"Sure thing, Princess," Haymitch drawled. Katniss was somewhat comforted that she wasn't the only girl that Haymitch assigned a demeaning female nickname to, though Glimmer had clearly taken it as a compliment.

"I'm here!" Katniss called, coming into the room.

"Kat!" Katniss could practically _hear_ Haymitch rolling his eyes. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"It worked."

"Are you sure?"

"Completely." Glimmer smirked. "Seneca Crane is one hundred percent wrapped around my little finger."

"You must be a hell of a good lay." It had slipped out before she could stop it, but Katniss didn't regret it. If she was going to be able to keep up with Glimmer, she needed to give as good as she got.

"I am," Glimmer purred. "Why, want to try?"

Katniss opened her mouth to answer with something equally lewd and inappropriate, but was interrupted by Haymitch's guffaw and the sound of Peeta choking on his own tongue. Then both male tribute and victor dove behind the couch with Effie's half strangled high pitched snort-thing, in order to find some sort of spittle protection.

"Glimmer, this is Haymitch Abernathy, my mentor, most well known for diving head first off the stage at the reaping, and my escort Effie Trinket. You already know Peeta. Haymitch, Effie, Peeta, my ally, Glimmer."

"He's also well-known for winning the Quarter Quell," Glimmer said absently. "And, I must suggest that you are a genius."

"Thank you, princess. You clearly possess more in the way of social skills than Katniss, here. You've seen tapes?"

"Of every Hunger Games ever played."

"Finally, someone appreciates me."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Glimmer said bluntly. "I think that both of them are at an extreme disadvantage, partially because there's only one mentor for them to share and most districts have two and partially because you've got your head shoved so far up a bottle that you can't see straight, but I do acknowledge that you're a genius when you bother to sober up. But now Katniss and I are allies. Which means that _my_ life is partially in your hands too. So you aren't having anymore alcohol. And you're going to collaborate with my mentor."

"Who's your mentor, princess?"

"Cashmere," Glimmer said cheerfully. Haymitch full-out groaned.

"Hate her."

"I don't care. You are going to get along with her, or I will remind you that I _am_ a Career Tribute, and I am perfectly capable of removing the skin from your bones shred by shred, _and_ it isn't against the rules to attack a mentor, only a tribute."

"Scary. You better make sure that this one doesn't turn on you, sweetheart," he said to Katniss.

"She might just turn me _on_, instead." Haymitch guffawed, Peeta choked, Effie let out a horrified yelp and Glimmer smirked.

"Looks like I've been rubbing off on you, girl on fire."

"Sounds fun," Katniss shot, hardly able to believe her own mouth, and realizing that Glimmer truly must have rubbed off during the day that they spent together. People can get to know each other pretty well when they know that they're going to die, after all. "When do we start?"

"_Katniss_!" Peeta's horror was so clearly entertaining that Glimmer joined Haymitch laughing, and even Katniss snorted, partially wondering what her mother, Prim and Gale would think of this new person when they saw her on TV. Because the Capitol would eat this dirty, flirty back and forth up so much that Seneca will have his fame. And they would have their lives.

In for a penny, "what? She's so hot that it's got me batting for the other team," in for a pound.

"We could put on _that_ kind of show. I'm sure the Gamemakers would go for it."

"Absolutely not," Katniss snapped. "My twelve year old sister is watching this, you know."

Glimmer arched a brow. "I'm sure that they have that fuzzy stuff that covers up the good parts."

Katniss rolled her eyes and decided that now was the time to remove them both from the sitting room before she got on Haymtich's good side any further. "Come on, my room's this way."

"Ohhh, does it have a bed?"

"You know it, baby."

And they were followed out of the room by disbelieving stares. Glimmer started laughing and leaning heavily on Katniss, and it didn't take Katniss very long to join her, both of them howling by the time that they got to Katniss' room.

"That. Was. Priceless!" Glimmer hollered, flopping onto the bed and rolling over until her face was buried in the pillow. "The _look_ on bread boy's face—"

"Why do you call him that?"

"Cause he looks like a loaf of bread."

"His father's the baker," Katniss offered, snorting.

"That's perfect. Now, for what Crane said—he can swing it, as _long_ as we put on a good show. That means that after the bloodbath, we have to play the game. We can't just hide in the woods and wait for the others to eliminate each other."

"We never would have anyway. The Careers are mad at you, and that brute from District 2 hates my guts for some reason."

"The fire," Glimmer answered. "You took sponsors away from him. And that stunt that you pulled at the reaping."

"Child," Katniss snorted.

"Cato? Yes, from what I can see he _is_ very much an overgrown child. He thinks that winning this thing is his due, like we should be grateful to collapse at his feet and let him kill us. For our Victory Tour," Glimmer added airily. "Do you think that we'll start in eleven and go to one, and then back to twelve, or what?"

"I don't know." Katniss smirked, suddenly sure that they were going to win, though it wouldn't do to be too cocky about it. "Why don't we let the Capitol figure that out? We just get to go along for the ride. I wonder if they'll let me bring Prim? She _is _the reason why I'm here, after all. And I'm sure that she'd like to see the Capitol."

"Of course," Glimmer agreed with a smile. "You get some sleep, girl on fire. Early training tomorrow."

"You mean you're not staying?" Katniss asked with huge, fake blinking eyes. "I thought you wanted to see the bed."

Glimmer cracked up. "I should have known that you'd be impossible once I'd pulled out of that shell of yours. Seriously, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. G'night."

"Course. I'm not going to _my_ bed, though."

"Who—Seneca Crane. Thought you already—"

"He's very good," Glimmer said absently. "And positive reinforcement can't hurt anyone. If I'm good enough in bed, he'll want me to stay alive so that he can have me afterwards, too."

"Your call," Katniss said, shrugging one shoulder. It wasn't her place to judge. She knew that Glimmer had been taught from a young age to use her beauty, her body, to her advantage. "But if you don't want to—"

"Doesn't matter," Glimmer passed it off. "Besides, I'm going to have to get used to it. You know that they sell the desirable victors, right? I'm gorgeous. It's simply fact. They're going to be moving me in and out of people's beds until I'm old and grey."

"What!"

"They sell the victors. Their bodies. What, you don't think that Finnick Odair is that much of a manslut all on his own, do you?" Glimmer's eyes glazed over. "Finnick Odair... Mmm. Talk about delicious. We would make such beautiful babies, don't you think? Too bad he's in love with that other girl. Annie Cresta."

"Who?" Katniss felt lost. But there was no denying Finnick Odair's gorgeousness, or his mansluttiness.

"Annie Cresta? She's the one a few years back that went mad when the boy from her district was killed. Ran off into the woods. She survived because the place flooded and she was the best swimmer. Finnick Odair's totally in love with her. Trust me, Kat. I know these things."

"If you say so," Katniss surrendered, raising both hands in defeat.

"I do," Glimmer answered triumphantly. "He's staying on district four's floor, but not mentoring. We can ask him tomorrow."

"Glimmer..."

"Oh, we can be tactful about it. It really is quite tragic, after all. Both victors, her mad and him an instrument of the Capitol. They can't really ever be together."

Katniss paused. It was true, really. The Capitol couldn't ever stop ruining these people's lives, could they? Even after they'd won, they couldn't leave them alone to grieve and put the pieces back together. Most of them are like Haymitch, she knew. Alcoholics or drug addicts, bodies wasted. Or, apparently, forced prostitutes. Or insane, like Annie Cresta. And, jokes aside, if it weren't for Prim a part of her wondered whether winning would be worth it.

But there _was_ Prim, and now there was Glimmer. And Gale, and her mother. All people that she should live for, if she could. Somehow, in the space of a day, Glimmer had been relegated to the list of most important people. And she knew from the way that Glimmer was looking at her that she felt the same.

"I can't wait to meet your sister," Glimmer said softly.

"She'll love you," Katniss murmured. "But you just censor yourself around her, alright? She's pretty innocent."

"Oh, yes," Glimmer cackled. "Fresh meat. Something new to corrupt."

"Shut up. And get out."

"Gone."

Training, Day 2:

"Come on!" Glimmer whined plaintively, pulling at Katniss' arm. "I wanna go see the knives!"

"You're such a child sometimes." She leaned in closer, pressing her forearm to Glimmer's shoulder and her lips to her ear. "We've got a shadow." She gestured to the little girl, Rue, from eleven, who was hiding behind a pillar.

"That really is the most despicable, isn't it? This city is so full of glamour that sometimes you forget. But these people..."

"Sometimes I wonder what they do all day, while waiting for a new shipment of children to come and die for their entertainment," Katniss muttered back. "Maybe we can't save her, but we can teach her a few things. Rue!"

The little girl started. "Yes, Rue, we know you're there. Come on out, okay?"

She crept forward to where Katniss and Glimmer were sitting on the mats, Glimmer playing with a knife in her hand. "Come, sit," Glimmer said, smiling devilishly. "We don't bite. Honest."

Rue was practically trembling as she sat crosslegged, creating a circle. "You know how to use a knife?"

"No, not really."

Glimmer looped her fingers around the dull side of the blade and offered the twelve-year-old the handle. As she reached out to take it, Katniss gently adjusted her grip. "You'll hurt yourself if you hold too tightly. Loose—it has to be like a natural extension of your arm. Now, somebody's going at your throat with a knife, what do you do?"

"I—die, I guess. I'm not big enough to fight off any of these people directly."

"Wrong. You push it away. They won't be expecting it, and better your hands than your throat. Then you go for the eyes. As you said, you're small. You go for the eyes, the groin. Temples. Every weak spot that you can reach. Pull hair, scratch, bite. Anything to get away. The ear's good, because nobody thinks to guard it, and it can hurt like hell. If they've got you, you shock them with pain—a stomp to the foot, and knee to the jewels. Then you can run like hell. You don't stay and fight."

Soon, Glimmer had the bewildered little girl doing basic knife maneuver and coaching her in blocking them without hurting herself. A weapon that you can't use, after all, is more dangerous to you than any weapon in an enemy's hands. At best, they'll simply take it from you. At worst, they'll use it against you when you've still got hold of it.

"Rue, have you got any allies?" It simply slipped out of Katniss' mouth, and Glimmer grinned, clearly having been thinking the same thing.

"No, why?"

"Now you do," Glimmer answered cheerfully. "Now, finish up with that last one, and we'll take a break. Katniss wants to meet Finnick Odair."

"I DO NOT! That was you!"

Glimmer just smirked. "Regardless of whose idea it was, we're going to meet Finnick Odair. I figure that since we're all going to be dead soon anyway, we deserve some pretty things in life."

"You mean besides you?"

"Yeah, exactly. See, Kat? I like the little one."

"Oh, no, you've already started corrupting her. I've changed my mind, you can't meet Prim. I don't want you anywhere near her."

"You already agreed," Glimmer singsonged. Rue finished with the knife and threw it down.

"Time to go," she said cheerfully. "If you really want me," she sounded doubtful now.

"As an ally? All the way. We saw yesterday, how you were climbing around on those nets. Now come on, time to meet Finnick Odair."

Glimmer led them to the elevator and hit the button for the fourth floor. It dinged and they exited—the rooms were exactly the same layout, but different decorations. And, conveniently, there was Finnick Odair himself, slumped on the couch watching TV.

"Yes? Are you supposed to be up here?"

"There's no rule against it," Glimmer answered dismissively. "People just don't do it very often. We just wanted to meet you."

"Meet me? Why?"

"Well, Kat and Rue were curious. I just wanted to meet the person that I'm going to beat."

"Beat?" He was faintly bemused by this.

"Well, everyone says that you're the prettiest victor in history. At least the prettiest one still alive. But when I win, you won't be."

He didn't seem to be able to stop himself from snorting. "Cocky, aren't you?"

"No, I just have the best allies."

"Hold. Allies? _Them_? Eleven and Twelve? That's going to shake the city to the ground, isn't it?"

"That's the plan," Glimmer agreed cheerfully. "Also, we wanted to ask if it's true that you're in love with Annie Cresta?"

"What!"

"_Glimmer_!"

"No, no, it's okay. It's not really a secret, really. Yes, I do love her. Very much."

"They can't ever stop ruining your lives, can they?" Katniss demanded angrily. "Even after they force you to fight to the death, they can't let you live as you want to."

"No, they really can't," Finnick said. "Sit, why don't you? You two should be okay, but you... I always liked Haymitch Abernathy. Funny guy. But he's a terrible mentor."

"He's been okay, actually," Katniss defended him. Haymitch was trying. "And he likes Glimmer."

"He calls me princess," Glimmer said proudly.

"Yeah, so? He calls me sweetheart. He'll probably call Rue darling or something."

"But he calls me _princess_. It means that he recognizes me to be above everyone else." Katniss snorted. "Hey, don't hate on me because I'm pretty."

Katniss rolled her eyes and Rue, still unused to Glimmer's attitude, watched wide-eyed. "Audience is going to love that," Finnick observed. "Different districts. So how to do you two know each other so well?"

"We don't. But we're learning."

"Learning." He sounded skeptical.

"Glimmer likes striking things," Katniss said wryly. "And apparently, I qualify as striking."

**I am insane. I do know this. Though I don't want any flames for OOC-ness. I did warn you. A lot. **


	2. Training Day 3

Training, Day 3:

"This is boring," Glimmer insisted, snatching a knife from her district partner's hand and throwing it into the wall. Katniss snorted, Marvel glared and Rue laughed.

"This is survival skills, Glimmer. This is what will keep us from eating poisonous stuff in the arena."

"Oh, please, would you?" Marvel pleaded.

"You and half pint already know this stuff, though," Glimmer whined, ignoring Marvel completely. "You won't let me eat anything bad."

"Yes, but are you going to come and find us every time you want to eat a plant? What if we get separated? It's impractical. And don't call me half pint," Rue snapped. "And put the knives down. Both of you."

Both Marvel and Glimmer cowered from the glare in the twelve year old's eyes, and both went over to the next station to strip themselves of their weaponry. Then Glimmer came back, but Marvel fled instead.

"You know, Glimmer, at first I was pissed at you, but now I'm pretty sure that I don't want you as an ally. You're insane. All three of you are insane."

Katniss, Rue and Glimmer fixed angelic smiles onto their faces and waved at him as he left. "Toodles," Glimmer called at Marvel's retreating back.

As soon as he was gone, Glimmer fell onto Katniss laughing. Katniss herself barely managed to keep a straight face, and Rue was on the floor, rolling around in the samples of plant leaves. The operator of the station looked very irritated with them, but Katniss and Glimmer had managed to make a name for themselves during the previous two days of training, and nobody voluntarily wanted to confront their insanity.

Training was cut short that day so that each tribute could have their private sessions with the Gamemakers. Glimmer, as the girl from District One, went second, just following Marvel. She winked at Seneca Crane without even bothering to be discreet before she went to the knives and showed a variety of close manoeuvres on the dummies. It only took her about ten minutes to go around the combat stations, showing at least minimum efficiency with every weapon offered. She was worst with a bow, so it was good that Katniss could shoot. Then she stood before the Gamemakers to be dismissed.

Seneca Crane was staring at her with something more than simple lust in his eyes. Glimmer knew that look. She _recognized _that look. She had seen it on lots of boys back home. Instead of balking at it like she had done in the past, she winked at him again. Looking favourable towards a relationship with Seneca Crane would only help later on. Plus, nobody said that she wasn't favourable.

It wasn't required to go back into the room where the tributes were waiting, but Glimmer breezed there anyway, forcing Rue to budge over so that she could share her chair. Marvel was gone, as was Cato, who had already left to go. Thresh, who was sitting next to Rue, glared at her incredulously, but Glimmer ignored him in favour of leaning over the back of the chair to address Katniss, who was talking quietly to Peeta.

"Kattie," she taunted, snapping her fingers in her face without caring what she was interrupting.

"Please don't ever call me that again. Kat, I can deal with—God knows Gale calls me Catnip, but not Kattie." She shuddered in her chair. "If you call me that again, I will be forced to resort to drastic measures."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. In my interview, I'll tell all of Panem what you threatened to do to Haymitch and ruin your sweet and innocent routine."

"You wouldn't," Glimmer gasped with mock horror. "If you do, I'll have to _punish _you," she singsonged. Rue squealed softly, Peeta choked on his tongue (a reaction that Glimmer enjoyed provoking in him, if she was perfectly honest), and Thresh turned to stare at them and blinked.

Katniss pouted. "Will you make it _really good_?"

This time, Peeta and Thresh choked in tandem. "You two do know that you're ruining whatever vestiges of my innocence that I had left," Rue commented carelessly.

"Oh, please. A twelve year old that uses the word 'vestiges'? You don't have innocence. And yes, baby, I'll make it hurt real good for you," Glimmer threw at Katniss, who blinked in falsified astonishment.

"What did you think of my bed last night?"

"It was wonderful," Glimmer sighed. Thresh was still staring at the three of them, wide-eyed. Peeta looked like someone was pulling the universe down around his ears. Suddenly, it all clicked together for Glimmer, and she wondered how she hadn't seen it sooner. Peeta was in love with Katniss. Of course. She eyed him before generously deciding not to reveal his secret to Katniss loudly for everyone to hear.

"Well, I certainly hope so," Katniss said loftily. "I don't share my bed with just anyone." Something flashed across her face then, and she winced and turned away.

"Kat," Glimmer said softly, worming out from under Rue to cross around and loop her arms around Katniss. "We'll get you home to her. Prim _will_ see you again."

"Thank you, Glim."

"Of course," she answered. "Anytime. Prim may be your little sister, but you're _my_ little sister now."

"Pfft," Katniss shot back. "I'm only two years younger than you."

"Still younger," Glimmer taunted. "Besides, that makes Prim my little sister too, and that means that it's my duty to make her happy by getting you home to her."

Despite the flippant quality to her words, Katniss held Glimmer against her tightly, soaking up the comfort that the older girl offered. It was only seconds before Rue joined the group hug. "Can I be your sister, too?"

"Yeah," Katniss managed fondly. "You can be Prim's twin, since you guys are the same age. And don't you have younger siblings as well?"

"Yes, three of them."

"Perfect. We can all be one big, happy family."

"I don't have family," Glimmer said, holding Katniss and Rue tighter. "My parents are dead and I never had siblings."

"Now you do," Rue said firmly. "Even if it's just for a few days, you do."

Glimmer disentangled herself from her allies and took Rue's seat again. The entire room was staring at them, though only Thresh and Peeta had been close enough to hear their verbal exchange. Rue sat in her lap, since she was small.

The room emptied slowly but surely—eventually, Thresh was called. Rue hopped over to take over his seat as he stood to leave and both hung over the seats to talk to Katniss. Poor Peeta's eyes followed between the three of them frantically, as if his world had been turned upside down and he didn't know which way was what.

"Glim," Rue said softly. "I'm next."

"I know," Glimmer answered distractedly.

"I'm nervous."

"You'll be fine. Just do that thing where you leap all over the room without touching the floor. I pulled at least a nine and probably a ten, and Kat should be able to manage the same, if what she's said about her shooting is true. You don't need a high score for sponsors, because you'll be with us and people will send _us _stuff. Just go in there and do your thing."

"Thank you, Glim."

"You'll be perfect, Rue," Katniss assured her, shooing her to meet the Gamemaker that had come to get her. "Just meet us back in here after you're done."

All three of the remaining people in the room watched Rue go. "That really is the most despicable, isn't it?" Peeta asked softly.

"That little girl," Glimmer sighed. "Kat, what if we can't protect her?"

"We'll do what we can," Katniss answered pragmatically. "That's all that we can do."

"I suppose," Glimmer sighed. They fell silent again waiting for Rue, all staring at the door when she came bursting back through.

"I did it!"

"That's good, baby," Glimmer answered. Peeta got up and left the room with the Gamemaker that had come to collect him. "What did you do?"

"I climbed all over the room, like you said. They were only really half paying attention since they've seen so many people, but I think that they were impressed. Like when I leapt from the knife rack to the climbing net."

"Really? Wow, that's a pretty far jump," Katniss praised.

"So, tomorrow. Interviews. No group training tomorrow, since we've got individual training with our mentors and escorts for them. They'll have you come up with an angle—I've already got mine. I'm sexy."

"Clearly," Katniss said dryly.

"I'm going to be sweet and innocent. At least that's what Chaff said at breakfast."

"Chaff's your mentor? And Haymitch is mine? Lovely. That's exactly what we need," Katniss muttered, remembering the years upon years that she had watched Haymitch and Chaff pass a bottle back and forth during the Games.

"Cashemere's not an alcoholic," Glimmer said perkily. "She can take care of all of us."

"That's good," Katniss said mildly. "I certainly hope so. And—that's me. Wonder what Peeta did?"

Glimmer and Rue followed Katniss to her feet when the Gamemaker looked at all of them and made a shooing gesture. "Meet us in my room when you're done, Kat?" Glimmer clarified. Katniss nodded, and the three of them separated, Katniss continuing into the training room and Glimmer and Rue going down the hall to the tribute housing section of the building without going into the elevator, since Glimmer was from District One, and housed on the first floor.

Katniss... well, Katniss' temper got the best of her. This was _her life _that this little demonstration was hinging on, and they couldn't even be bothered to pay attention. Plus, Rue's and Glimmer's. And she had to wonder if they had paid attention to Rue or Peeta or Thresh, or any of the people from District 10, 9, or 8. So, after several aborted attempts to get their attention with her repeated bulls' eyes, she realized that they were paying more attention to a roast pig than her, and promptly shot the apple out of its mouth and then left without being dismissed.

Roughly four and a half minutes later, she was ensconced in Glimmer's room with her allies, pacing back and forth with thoughts of the what-have-I-done variety running back and forth through her head.

"Honestly, this _isn't funny_! What if they give me a one! Then we'll never get sponsors, not even you, Glim, since you're with me. What if they try to execute my family? What if they attack us with mutts in the arena! What if Seneca Crane decides that he doesn't want me to survive after all, and doesn't give me a bow? What if—"

"_Relax_," Glimmer ordered. "Your pacing is making me dizzy. And they wouldn't do that. Did you aim for any of them?"

"No."

"Did you _hit_ any of them?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem? They want a good show, Kat. They need people with some spunk. Bet you get a twelve."

"No. There's no way. That's never happened. People don't even get _elevens_, let alone twelves. They were—I was just mad," Katniss moaned, collapsing on the bed with Rue, who was still laughing her head off.

"I get that you were. But I think that they'll like you. I promised Seneca Crane a good show—you've just shown him that you can deliver. He wants this to last—he'll do everything that he can to help us survive."

"If you say so," Katniss said doubtfully. "They'll be posting the scores after dinner; where should we eat?"

"Let's go up to twelve," Glimmer said with a predatory smirk on her face.

"Why, because you like to make Peeta choke?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Glimmer said unrepentantly. "Plus, I want to be with you when you tell that insane escort of yours what you did at the training session."

Katniss winced dramatically. "She'll screech at me about manners for _hours_, Glim. _Hours_. It would be kinder to just stick me in the arena now."

Glimmer and Rue, who had no appreciation for the horrors offered by Effie Trinket's high pitched shriek, snickered all the way to the elevator, where Glimmer informed the two pretty people sitting in the sitting room area where she was going and when she would be back, before the three of them piled into the elevator and hit the buttons for both eleven and twelve, since Rue would have to tell her mentor where she was going as well. When the door opened on the eleventh floor, Rue shouted out that she was eating dinner with her allies on a different floor and had almost let the door slide shut again before it was bounced back open by a dark stub, where an arm had used to be attached.

Chaff slid into the elevator with them grinning. "You're going up to twelve?"

"Yes, that's what I said, isn't it?"

"I'll come with you. Haven't talked much to Haymitch this year."

Rue just shrugged, Glimmer briefly eyed him like a piece of meat before she dismissed him, and Katniss sighed. "Lovely. And here I was getting used to the presence of a single alcoholic."

"You're supposed to be _nice, _Kattie!"

"What did I tell you about that?"

"I believe that there was some conversation about punishment—do you want me to find sex toys, or can I use my hand?"

"Whichever you think will feel better, baby," Katniss shot back.

The elevator _dinged_ as they reached their floor destination and Katniss and Glimmer tumbled out of it giggling, arm-in-arm. Rue followed behind them, smiling indulgently, and Chaff simply looked bewildered.

"Effie, Haymitch," Katniss sang. "I've brought guests for dinner. Cinna, hi. These are my allies, Glimmer and Rue. And Chaff, Rue's mentor."

"Picked up another one, have you, sweetheart?"

"Yep," Katniss answered.

"Whose idea was this?" Haymitch eyed Glimmer suspiciously, as if blaming her for the sudden insanity and lack of self preservation that had infected his tribute—the first one that he had had in years that had the slightest chance of winning. "Princess?"

"Both of ours," Glimmer answered, taking a free empty seat at the table and starting to dish herself without being invited. "It was a mutual decision. Come sit, Rue," she asked (ordered) the twelve year old, patting the seat on one side of her while lasering Katniss with her lethal green eyes in order to direct her to the one on the other side. Chaff circled the table to sit next to Haymitch after clapping him on the shoulder.

"So," Glimmer said, in a perky tone that bore a disturbing resemblance to Effie Trinket. Haymitch and Peeta, pre-conditioned, started to duck underneath the table before realizing that Effie hadn't spoken, and cautiously peeked over it. "We need to talk about the Games—notably, your little habits during the Games."

"Oh?"

"Yes. See, you two are going to remain sober during the Games. If we die horrible deaths, then you may get back to drinking your sorrows away, but you cannot save us if your heads are stuffed down a bottle. So you two are going to get cleared up and sober, and you're going to stay that way. I'm sure that Peeta and Thresh agree with us, right Peeta?" She threw Peeta a disarming smile, and Peeta blinked away from it like it blinded him. "Oh, honestly, bread boy, if you don't grow a pair, you're not going to last a day."

Effie let out a scandalized, horrified sound that resembled a dying animal. "Oh, and Katniss is probably going to get a 12 for her session today, so try not to be too surprised," Glimmer added brightly, after Effie was finished spluttering.

"I am not! I'll probably get a 1!" Katniss whined, stabbing into her chicken with slightly more violence than strictly necessary for dealing with already dead poultry.

"Oh, do stop moping, dear, it's getting tiring," Glimmer said dismissively. "You weren't moping in bed last night."

This time, Katniss was _sure_ that Glimmer had made that comment for the sole pleasure of hearing Peeta choke. On food this time, instead of his tongue.

"You know," Rue said sweetly, reaching over and deftly plucking the decanter of scotch out of Chaff's hand. "If you two keep lauding your skills in bed like this, I might want to experiment with you too, when I'm older. You're making me feel left out," she added with a pout.

Chaff seamlessly turned to stare accusingly at Glimmer. "What did you do to my innocent, 12 year old tribute?" He demanded, fruitlessly trying to snatch the alcohol back from Rue, who was holding out of reach quite nicely. "She was nice and _amiable_ yesterday!"

"Nah, yesterday we'd already started corrupting her," Glimmer said conversationally. "But, _as I was saying_, Katniss shot the Gamemakers today in her private session."

"Glimmer! You make it sound so much worse than it is," Katniss protested.

"_Katniss Everdeen_!" Effie broke in, tone a painful screech that sent all of the male occupants of the room under the table again, eyes skittering around, _daring _them to interrupt her. "_Manners_! Honestly, child! _Manners_!"

After the second "_manners_," Rue and Glimmer joined the men under the table. Effie didn't seem to notice or care that everyone but the person that she was lecturing was cowering away from her. Katniss just rocked away and hoped for the best, mentally cursing Glimmer to a lifetime of bad sex, before realizing that was a _tad bit_ harsh and revising it to a solid week of bad sex.

Glimmer glared at her from under the table, as if she had heard her thoughts.

"I didn't shoot them," Katniss protested mildly. "I just loosed an arrow in their direction, it didn't hit anyone! But," she added, snickering. "One of them fell backwards into a punch bowl."

"What happened?" Haymitch asked, coming out from under the table cautiously.

"They weren't paying attention," Katniss sulked. "I put arrow after arrow in the bulls' eye of their stupid targets and I don't think that they even noticed. Someone brought in their dinner—a huge roasted pig. I lost my temper and shot the apple out of its' mouth, then I just turned around and left."

"Without being dismissed?" Effie demanded in a horrified tone.

"Yes, Effie, without being dismissed," Katniss said, rolling her eyes. "After I shot them, I didn't really see a point in sticking around."

Glimmer snorted delicately. "As long as you didn't damage my baby," she shot, winking.

"No, the arrow didn't get anywhere near Seneca Crane. Honestly, Glim, I didn't hurt your baby boy toy. Don't worry so much."

"What?" Chaff caught on that he was clearly missing something here, and looked around from Katniss to Glimmer, as if hoping that one would explain.

"Glimmer here seduced the Head Gamemaker," Rue provided drolly. "And she's clearly gotten attached."

"I don't get attached," Glimmer said sharply. "It's just that my deal is with him—no other Gamemaker would have any reason to honour it, or even _know_ about it. And _no_, I won't tell you what the deal was—Katniss knows it, and I know it, and Rue has guessed bits and pieces of it. Trust me—if it worked, _you'll know_."

"Why do I have this sickly sense of foreboding?" Cinna asked dramatically, finally coming out from under the table belatedly.

"You're fire guy!" Glimmer said excitedly. "Oh, I've wanted to meet you since I saw that costume! It was amazing!"

"Fire guy?" Cinna asked Katniss incredulously, who shrugged in response.

"I didn't say it, she did," Katniss muttered. "It was _all_ her. Don't blame me."

"What are you going to make her wear for her interview tomorrow? More fire?"

"You'll see. It's a surprise."

"Ohhh." Glimmer grinned. "I like surprises. But she should match me—I'm wearing gold. And Rue's wearing—what are you wearing, sweetie?"

"White."

"Okay. White and gold—whatever Kat wears should be able to match—we're going to reveal our alliance, and we've got to look good!"

"What did your mentor say?"

"She hasn't talked about it yet. But it's probably best if we do it when we have the chance."

"Yes," Haymitch muttered. "She's going to be a nightmare in the interview—it's best if her allies are better at attracting the crowd, then they'll have to support her by default. After shooting the Gamemakers—not that I don't approve, but you'll have a hell of a time winning them over, sweetheart."

"Thank you, ever so," Katniss snapped.

"Hey," Glimmer said cheerfully. "Just pretend you're talking to me, and you'll be totally fine."

"So, you mean that I should make inappropriate suggestions to the audience and invite them to bed with me?"

"No... well, maybe just Caesar Flickerman."

"Please," Katniss snorted. "You're waaayy better than Caesar Flickerman ever could be, baby."

"Of course I am! Want to see the things that I can do with my mouth?" Glimmer asked without missing a beat.

"Every single time," Katniss remarked, looking at the astonished Chaff, indulgent Rue, scandalized Effie, interested Cinna, mildly insulted Haymitch and choking Peeta.

"Of course, Kat," Glimmer answered, sounding insulted.

Katniss just shook her head and got back to her dinner.

Of course, Katniss couldn't hide from what had happened in her training session forever. Just after dinner, all of them congregated in the sitting room with the TV in order to watch the training scores given to each of the tributes. Predictably enough, Marvel, who had shown up first, managed a nine. Glimmer got a ten, to the applause of everyone in the room. Glimmer simply smiled graciously, as if she had known all along. And she had.

They watched both tributes from District Two get tens, and then a whole slew of other tributes with scores that ranged anywhere from as low as three to as high as nine. Both tributes from District Four, traditionally a Career district, achieved nines, and Thresh managed a ten, probably just because of his intimidating size.

Then Rue got a seven. Everyone in the room exploded into cheers, and Rue received hugs in congratulations before everyone fell silent again, waiting for Peeta's score: eight.

Katniss held her breath as her own picture appeared on the screen before a number echoed on top of it. _Eleven_.

"Ha! I told you, didn't I?"

"You did," Katniss said, laughing. "Actually, I believe that you said _twelve_, but eleven will do."

"Eleven—" Haymitch said, sounding less drunk than he had all evening. "I can work with eleven. Come on, up you get. You two, go down to your own floors and get back to bed. My tribute and I need to discuss interview strategies for tomorrow. No, you may not make rude sexual innuendos to the crowd, though implying that you and princess over there are involved may help more than hinder. God knows that the Capitol loves a love story—"

"That won't work, Haymitch. First of all, we can't follow through on that—all we do is flirt, and they'd want to see some action. Secondly, they'd want us to live happily ever after. Forever. We'd never be able to find a life outside of it, never be able to marry a person that we love. This would be it. The Capitol would make sure that we were never happy again. Look at people like Finnick Odair—we'd never get away."

"Fine," Haymitch snapped back. "How do you know about Finnick Odair?"

"We talked to him yesterday," Glimmer replied breezily. "Besides, there are other ways to spin this without bringing romance into it. Or _maybe_ there are other ways to bring romance into it." She glanced at Peeta, but Haymitch was the only one who followed her gaze, before locking eyes with Glimmer in alarm.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," Glimmer answered. "I'm well versed in spotting these things, after all. I've been taught all my life to take advantage of human connection, and that isn't exactly a subtle one."

"Well, I'll have to see what I can do with that. Is she going to be difficult?"

"No," Glimmer answered. "I'll make sure of it."

"_What are you talking about_?" Katniss demanded, looking between Glimmer and Haymitch frantically.

"Oh, don't worry," Glimmer said cheerfully. "If it works, you'll find out tomorrow. If it doesn't, you'll never know."

"That doesn't comfort me," Katniss answered warily, to which Glimmer grinned.

"Well, I'm wandering off to visit my boy toy. Don't get lonely without me in that big, luxurious bed of yours," Glimmer said cheerfully.

Katniss rolled her eyes as Glimmer disappeared into the elevator, followed by Rue and Chaff, and then she went to bed.

**There's day three. Again, I apologize for inflicting this on the public, but you all seemed to like it. On that note, thank you for the supportive reviews. Also, I'd like to know—I may have said at one point that I was going to do Katniss/Peeta, simply because it's easier. But I'd like some feedback—Katniss/Peeta, or Katniss/Gale? Or anything else, really, I'm open to suggestions. This fic won't really be shippy, but I will have it going on in the background. Also, I'm planning some Thresh/Glimmer undertones, but nothing lasting or really shippy, just her getting him to loosen up. Also, what do you think of a potential, permanent Glimmer/Seneca Crane? Weird, or doable? **


	3. Interview Day

Interview Day:

"You're hopeless, Sweetheart," Haymitch said, sounding exasperated. "You cannot flirt. You cannot gush. You cannot—hold on, you flirt with that brat of an ally of yours all the time! Why can't you flirt?"

"With the audience?" Katniss demanded. "I'm not _flirting _with the audience! I'm already flirting with Glimmer for the audience's entertainment—"

"Please, sweetheart, don't you tell me that you don't have fun."

"Well, fine. I have fun with Glim. But I'm still not flirting with the audience. Find another angle."

"I would, if you were capable of portraying _any_ other angle at all! Can't do sweet and innocent. Can't do sexy. Can't do intimidating—you're just not big enough for that. You aren't sly and cunning, you aren't humble. What do _you_ think you can do?"

"Why can't I just be myself?"

"If you want to scare away all of the sponsors, be my guest, sweetheart." Haymitch was already halfway drunk. "Or, better yet, stay silent and let Glimmer and Rue and your training score win the sponsors for you. But then you'll have a problem when you have to split up. You _will_ have to split up, you know that, right, Katniss?" The use of her real name indicated the seriousness of Haymitch's thinking. "You're getting awfully attached to these girls, sweetheart. You may have to kill them when the time comes."

Katniss gave him a non-committal "mmm," and didn't answer. Glimmer had made that deal. There were ways. They were all walking out of here—they had to. She had to have the hope for it.

Shortly afterwards Haymitch washed his hands of her and sent her off for torture disguised as etiquette lessons with Effie Trinket.

"Sit up straight!" Effie shrieked, circling Katniss with a lethal look in her eyes—much like the wild dogs that she had run into while hunting.

"Yes, Effie," Katniss agreed, knowing that it would be over soon if she pretended to pay attention. They practiced walking like a lady (which was one of the most painful things that she had ever had to do), posture, faking a convincing smile, and how to address others respectfully.

Finally, Effie released her, and Katniss bolted for the elevator, hammered the button for the first floor and flat out ran down the hall to the District One housing section as soon as the door slid open.

Glimmer was with her mentor in the sitting room, looking bored out of her mind. "I _know_, Cashmere. I know how to flirt. I get how to work the crowd. Aerith is going to dress me in some ridiculously low cut, see through gold _thing_, and all I have to do is sound like sex and flash plenty of thigh and cleavage. I've been doing this since I was a kid."

"All right, Glimmer, but this is important—"

"You're just torturing me because you don't want to work with Haymitch Abernathy, aren't you?"

"Haymitch and Chaff—blondie, couldn't you have picked some allies with mentors that aren't alcoholics? I get along fine with Chaff, since he's a pretty amiable drunk and all, but Haymitch is a nightmare."

"Kat!" Glimmer spotted her hovering in the doorway, and looked like Katniss' appearance had just saved her from unspeakable eternal torment. "Thank. God. You're. Here."

"I just escaped from escort-land," Katniss sighed. "Finally. Effie's insane, did you know that?"

"I had guessed, yes," Glimmer said with a smirk.

"Anyway, I came down to talk to you about how we're going to play this—just act like it's no big deal and drop it in conversation somewhere, or what?"

"That sounds good," Glimmer agreed amiably. "They're going to be shocked. At least when I say it—by the time they get to you and Rue, they'll be mostly used to the idea. You probably won't have to bring it up—Caesar will ask about it."

"That's good, because you're better at word games than I am."

Glimmer snickered. "Oh, you can hold your own when you want to, girl on fire. This is my mentor, Cashmere. Cashmere, this is my ally Katniss."

"So you're one of the poor little innocents that has to suffer through the continual presence of Haymitch Abernathy, are you?"

"Yes, yes I am," Katniss agreed. "I have to—"

"Katniss! Katniss Everdeen! I know you're down here, Cinna needs to put you in your dress now. And I certainly hope that you aren't getting into anything improper with that blonde girl—"

"I'm coming, Effie," Katniss called back.

Cashmere stared at them, a reaction that Katniss had come to expect over the past few days. Glimmer and Katniss both started laughing. "Anything _improper_, huh?" Glimmer asked with a wink. "I like the sound of that—how about we blow off the interviews and send them a tape of our impropriety later? That'd get us sponsors for sure."

"What did I tell you about my sex life being televised to where my little sister can see?" Katniss asked sternly. "None of that, now. And _Rue_! Poor, baby Rue! We're destroying her innocence! I bet that she didn't even know that two girls could _have_ sex before she came here, but after all of your little comments about your tongue—"

"Please, Kat," Glimmer drawled back. "You've been making comments about your tongue, too. But mine's better. Want to try? I have _tons_ of practice. Hey, I bet that my boy toy would just _love_ to watch us go at it. That would help even more."

Katniss just rolled her eyes. Cashmere still hadn't stopped staring, and Katniss was fairly certain that Effie had fainted from horror. Oh, not yet—she was clutching the wall for support, and looking very white. "Well, maybe. But we had better make sure that the tapes only get televised for people over eighteen. Selling children porn is a no-no." There. That should do it—thump. Effie landed on the floor in a cloud of powder and fabric, and Katniss and Glimmer smirked in triumph.

"My work here is done," Glimmer said, sounding incredibly pleased with herself.

"You just—you're insane! I'm mentoring an insane tribute! And her insane ally, since you will undoubtedly need my help, since your mentor lives in a bottle."

"We'll be fine, Cashmere," Glimmer said gently, in her patented 'placate the crazy person' tone. "Come on, Kat, I'll help you get shrieky over there up the elevator to your floor."

"Thank you—I think that her makeup adds enough to her weight that I wouldn't be able to get her up by myself."

"That's true. God, trashy much?" Glimmer asked. Katniss knew, after the necessity of letting each other in during the past three days, very much about Glimmer. Like how, when she felt unsure, she reverted to acting like an airhead and pretending that her body was the only thing she had that was worth something. Katniss pressed a hand briefly to Glimmer's elbow before dropping to one knee next to Effie and propping up her body. Clearly, she hadn't been faking passing out—she was out totally cold. Though, with the way that these Capitol people were, it was possible that she hadn't been eating because it had gone out of style. Or maybe she had gone lightheaded at their sheer impropriety and hit her head as she went down.

Sort of draping Effie between them, the two girls managed to maneuver the larger woman down the hall and into the elevator. Katniss had carried game that was much larger than her, though it had been easier with Gale to help, and Glimmer was much stronger than she looked—years of combat training making their mark in her muscles.

Words weren't needed in the elevator. They knew what they were going to do. Glimmer's plan was working, Seneca Crane was wrapped around her gorgeous little finger. And they liked to save their better lines for when people could hear them. Though Katniss had accused Glimmer of liking to shock people, she couldn't deny that she found a certain amount of sadistic pleasure in hearing people choke and gasp when she made a borderline x-rated comment to her new best friend, who would return it with equally inappropriate insinuations.

Glimmer looked like she knew exactly what was going on in Katniss' head. She sent her a quicksilver smirk, which Katniss returned. The elevator dinged as she got out. Haymitch and Cinna were parked in front of the TV as the two girls dragged Effie in and dropped her on the couch. Haymitch just shook his head and muttered, "Here I thought that being dragged in unconscious was my job."

Cinna looked from Katniss and Glimmer to Effie and back again with a bemused expression. "What did you say to her?"

"Oh, I just suggested that we skip the interviews so that we could busy with our tongues, and send them a tape later," Glimmer said airily. "Then Kat seemed to agree, as long as the video was blocked from younger viewers."

"You two are something else," Cinna said, shaking his head. "You do it on purpose—don't protest, I can tell. You aren't even chasing after sponsors, you just want to shock people."

"The way I see it, if we're going to be dead in a few days, we might as well have fun," Glimmer said cheerfully. "And even if we aren't chasing after sponsors, they'll still eat it right up. We have absolutely nothing to lose."

"Except my little sister's innocence, when they broadcast this all over Panem," Katniss muttered. "Effie said that you needed to dress me?"

"Pity," Glimmer purred. "I much prefer you undressed."

"Okay, that one wasn't even slightly G rated," Katniss snapped irritably. "But if you're going there, I like you better undressed, too." She couldn't pull off the same sexy purr as Glimmer, but she did sound pretty sultry.

"Yes," Cinna answered, ignoring the running commentary. "And your stylist is probably going to need you soon, too, Glimmer, so you should head back down."

"Sure thing. And I'll see _you_ onstage, baby. Shall we give them a show?"

Cinna and Haymitch just rolled their eyes. Glimmer pouted at their lack of reaction, and Katniss laughed. "Give it up, Glim, they've got us figured out. Just make sure that the see through gold _thing_ that your stylist is going to stuff you into doesn't fall off. Or maybe it should—we'd probably get really good sponsors that way."

"You have no idea, baby," Glimmer sighed, in a sultry voice that made a person think of a bed, even if they _totally_ didn't swing that way. Though, Katniss had to admit that if she was going to start swinging that way, she would probably go for Glimmer.

Cinna and Haymitch appeared to be fed up—Cinna grabbed Katniss by the upper-arm and hauled her down the hall, and Katniss could see Haymitch stuffing Glimmer into the elevator and shutting the door.

After what seemed like hours, Katniss was standing in front of the full length mirror. She was beautiful. Maybe as beautiful as Glimmer, in a different way. Wearing blood-red, accented with jewels of yellow and gold—every colour of fire, dancing around her, glitter on her tanned skin and hair caught and piled atop her head with a red ribbon. Face perfectly accentuated with red and gold shadow and dark liner, lips traced with bronze-gold.

"Oh, Cinna, thank you," she said.

"It was always there. I just brought it out."

"Thank you," Katniss repeated a little desperately. "Thank you so much."

"I added a little extra gold, to satisfy your girl there," Cinna said. "But I think she prefers you undressed." He had a triumphant little smirk on his face.

"Oh, ha, ha," Katniss muttered. "That's just a riot, really. You're hilarious, you should dispense with this styling thing and get a job as a comedian, and you'd be so popular that you'd push the Hunger Games off the air."

"You deserved it," Cinna said mildly. "What you've been putting us through the past few days. Just pretend you're talking to me, and you'll be fine. Twirl for me."

Katniss twirled, enamoured by the sight of her skirts, twisting around her legs like flames. "I can do this," she said determinedly.

"You can do this," Cinna echoed, placing a hand on the small of her back and guiding her out of the room to the elevator.

The interview room was across the street from the training centre. It was crowded with people, from what Katniss could see, but the tributes were in a side room, waiting to make an entrance. Nobody seemed to be surprised by Rue and Glimmer huddled together in a corner, and they also didn't seem surprised when Katniss squeezed Peeta's hand briefly and darted over to huddle with them.

"So, this is it," Glimmer was saying in what was probably supposed to be an inspirational tone when Katniss got there.

"Glim, baby, you're good at a lot of things, but pep talks are not among them," Katniss said cheerfully. "You'll be fine, Rue. Though I should probably cover your eyes, the nudity exposed by Glimmer's—you call that a _dress_?"

"It doesn't show _everything_," Glimmer objected. "Why, do you want to see _everything_?"

Rue just rolled her eyes. "You're laying it on too thick, Glimmer. Katniss, don't you dare respond to that."

"Fine," Katniss answered, holding back her laugh.

They were going to continue their conversation, but peacekeepers started coming in, herding the tributes into a line. Katniss took her place before Peeta and after Thresh, shooting Rue, who only had a person between them, a reassuring look. In the wake of Glimmer's skintight, gold dress with its neckline that plunged to her belly-button, ornate white sheer layers that were easily see-through in the right light, and skirt that cascaded in layers out from her waist, Katniss hadn't even really _seen_ Rue. But the little girl was wearing a white, flowing dress that fell in folds to her feet, and wide feathered wings on her shoulders, a halo perched atop her dark hair. An angel.

They followed the line of tributes onto the stage, taking their seats in proper order, except Glimmer, who walked straight onto the stage to greet Caesar Flickerman.

"Glimmer!" Caesar greeted her with a smile, powdered blue hair wiggling as he stood.

"Hello, Caesar," Glimmer said in a breathy tone, taking his hand and allowing him to brush his lips against her fingers.

Katniss reached across Thresh's lap in order to catch Rue's hand in her own. Thresh did not look pleased, but he seemed willing to tolerate their entwined fingers being rested on his knees.

"I must, say, you have to be one of the most beautiful tributes that I've had up here for nine years—since Finnick Odair! Perhaps you even beat him," Caesar said in a mischievous tone. Katniss groaned under her breath and exchanged a glance with Rue. Yes, perfect, play to the girl's vanity. She'd never shut up.

"I talked to Finnick a few days ago," Glimmer said airily. "We agreed that I won."

"Oh, really? Finnick, did you agree to that?"

"I did not," said Finnick from the audience. "I remember that we agreed to disagree. Because she's gorgeous, yes, but I'm simply too stunning for mortal comprehension."

The crowd was already in love with the little exchange, and Glimmer had only answered one question. The girl in question stuck her tongue out at Finnick, and then flicked it back in and over her lips.

"So, moving on, how would you say that your chances are in this year's Games?"

"Excellent," Glimmer answered cockily, taking the offered seat at the same time as Caesar did.

"Oh? Have you allied with your district partner? And perhaps your fellow tributes from districts two and four?"

Glimmer pouted. It had the entire Capitol audience entranced. "Well, everyone does _that_," Glimmer drawled. "It gets rather boring, really. So I decided to shake things up."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Oh, I've got allies, Caesar. Just not the ones that you're thinking of. After all, I only get the best of everything. And one of my allies got the best training score. So you could say that I came out on top there."

Caesar looked totally shocked for a moment, as if the thought had never even occurred to him that districts one and twelve even _could_ ally. He quickly regained his bearings and cleared his throat. "Glimmer, does that mean that one of your allies is Katniss Everdeen?"

"Why, yes, Caesar," she purred, leaning forward to expose a generous display of her perfectly tanned cleavage to the crowd. "Kat's become a _very_ good friend over the past couple of days. And, as for my other ally, well, why don't you try your hand at guessing? I bet that you can't."

Katniss suddenly realized that the cameras had swung around on her, and she tried tossing a mimicry of that sultry smile of Glimmer's at the screens.

"Well, you don't strike me as the type of person to stick with what's expected of you," Caesar commented. "So, not one, two, or four. How about the other district twelve tribute? Did you ally with him?"

"Peeta? No," Glimmer answered. "I know that he and Kat are... friendly, but we have no agreement at the moment. Would you like a hint?"

"A hint would be excellent, thank you, Glimmer."

"Well, sometimes, the best assets come in the smallest of packages, Caesar." Glimmer moved forward slightly, licking her lips again.

"Rue! From district eleven!"

"Yep," Glimmer confirmed. "And it only took you two tries! You're so smart, Caesar. Rue really is too young for the more... colourful aspects of the close friendship that Kat and I share, but isn't she just adorable?"

Caesar blinked in astonishment, and despite the fact that he had to have seen it all before, this must have been a complete first.

"Rue—yes, she is. Quite. But are you implying that the relationship that you and Katniss share is more than sole friendship?"

"Oh, Kat and I are super close. We share a... special bond. And some of the things that we do together, well it isn't anything serious, but if it feels good, then why not go with it?"

"You say that you're close. How is that going to affect the Games, going forward? Only one of you can win, Glimmer."

"Oh, I know."

"So, if you're working to win, then how will that affect your relationships with your allies?"

"Oh, Caesar, my first and most prevalent goal in these Games is to get Katniss home to her sister." She sounded almost pitying, her tone heavy and taunting.

Silence. Dead silence. A buzzer rang, signifying the end of Glimmer's interview. "Well, that certainly was astonishing and I'm sure that our listeners would love to hear more about it, but our time is up here! Panem, I give you Glimmer from District One! I wish you luck in the Games and in achieving your goals."

"Thank you, Caesar. And thank you, everyone," she added, clasping a hand to her chest, "for your support tonight, and thank you for supporting me through the Games." She blew a kiss to the audience and headed to her seat. Katniss leaned forward on her chair and made eye contact.

'What-was-that?' Katniss mouthed at her ally.

Glimmer just smirked and arched an eyebrow before jerking her head to the stage, where Marvel was being greeted by Caesar, though not being paid much attention by the crowd, since they were too busy raving over Glimmer.

The tributes all had angles. The girl from district five was sly and cunning, Cato a ruthless killing machine and Clove dark and mysterious.

Finally, Rue took to the stage. She danced over the seats and the restless crowd calmed at the sight of her, finally able to get some answers after the long wait since Glimmer's interview.

"So, Rue! I have to say, this is entirely new territory for me. Let's start with your alliance. What prompted you to join up with Katniss and Glimmer?"

"Glimmer always gets what she wants," Rue answered, voice like a tinkling bell. "There's really no point in resisting."

"So it was Glimmer's idea for you to ally?"

"Something like that. I'm not sure when Katniss and Glimmer allied with each other, but on the second day of training they caught me watching them and called me over. Next thing I knew, Glimmer had decided we were allies and was teaching me how to use a knife."

"So she's pushy?"

"I wouldn't call her _pushy_, per say. Just used to getting her way."

"Has she taught you how to use the knife effectively?"

"Pretty well," Rue answered. "I wouldn't call it my best asset, but I'm passable."

"Oh? And what's your best asset? Is that how you got your training score yesterday? A seven is very impressive for someone of your size."

"I'm fast," Rue answered. "And I'm good at hiding. If they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out."

"I wouldn't dream of it. But what do you think of what Glimmer said about sending Katniss back home to her sister?"

Rue was silent for a moment. "I honestly don't know what to think," she answered. "You'll have to ask Katniss. But Glimmer doesn't do things that other people expect, and she likes to twist her words."

"I noticed."

"Yes, I saw. If it's any consolation, Caesar, Katniss is the only person that she can't do that to. And you held up remarkably well when she was blatantly manipulating you."

"Does this mean that I should expect the same from Katniss?" Caesar gave the audience a faux-frightened look.

"Katniss is nicer than Glim," Rue answered. "But it's the nice ones that you have to watch out for. Just be veerrry careful what you say and don't make any sudden movements, and you should be fine." Rue patted Caesar on the hand.

The audience appeared to love _this_, as well. The seasoned talk show host, taking advice from a twelve year old on how to handle an interview. The buzzer sounded, and Caesar helped Rue to her feet.

"Thank you, Rue, from district eleven! May the odds be ever in your favour! And," he added in a loud stage whisper as he escorted her off to the side of the stage. "Wish me luck in dealing with Miss Everdeen, will you?"

"Of course," Rue answered sweetly. "Good luck! I'll be rooting for you."

Caesar laughed.

Thresh came up onto the stage after and grunted a bit. Katniss felt a sudden jealousy—Thresh could pull off sullen and hostile just fine, but she simply wasn't intimidating enough for that. Caesar wished Thresh good luck, and then it was her turn. Despite the fact that her knees wanted to turn to jelly on the spot, Katniss walked straight and perfect in her high heels, just like Effie had taught her. She murmured a greeting to Caesar that she didn't even hear. He brushed his lips on the back of her hand, as he had done for all of the female tributes, and helped her to her seat.

"Katniss, I think that I can safely say that the audience has been waiting for this all day." The Capitol cheered in response to this, and Katniss licked her lips nervously. "What's been your favourite part of the Capitol so far?"

Katniss opened her mouth to give the perfectly acceptable yet kind of vapid answer of 'the lamb stew', and instead said, "The bed. And Glimmer in it. There are lots of things we can do there," she added suggestively.

She could _see_ Haymitch out there, smacking himself on the forehead and yet, looking very proud of her at the same time. Cinna just rolled his eyes from where he was sitting, and Katniss didn't even want to _think_ about her mother's reaction. Even Glimmer hadn't been that blatant in her interview. But she was undoubtedly snickering at Katniss' guts.

"Oh? Can you tell me what your relationship with Glimmer entails?"

"Oh, we're just friends," Katniss assured him. "But... a girl gets urges, right? You've got to do what you've got to do." Okay, now her mouth was operating entirely without her permission. Haymitch looked exasperated.

"And what about Rue?"

"Are you suggesting that I'm doing anything inappropriate with Rue?" Katniss demanded shrilly. "Of course not!"

"I was asking about your relationship with Rue," Caesar clarified gently.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm just a bit," she waved a hand in the air in attempt to undo the damage that her little outburst had caused. "Rue reminds me of my sister. They don't look alike, but something about her..."

"I see," Caesar answered. "And don't worry about that, we all have our off days."

"Yes, of course," Katniss said with a grateful smile.

"And your sister? Tell us about her. You volunteered for her, at the reaping."

"Her name is Prim. And I love her more than anything in the world," Katniss answered, tone husky since she was suppressing tears. "Her name came out, and I—I just couldn't breathe. I couldn't imagine life without her. I would have done _anything_ to prevent her from having to... kill. Or die. It took me about ten seconds to realize that there _was_ something that I could do—we don't get volunteers very often in District 12, so it honestly didn't occur to me for a moment. But then I just... volunteered, you know? I don't regret it," she added in a clear tone. "And Prim, when you see this, just remember that I love you no matter what, all right?"

"That was very heartfelt, Katniss, thank you. And what did your sister say to you, when you said goodbye?"

"She asked me to do everything that I could to win," Katniss answered truthfully.

"And what did you say?"

"I promised that I would."

"Of course you did," Caesar said, patting her knee. "So do you want to tell us what you were thinking when you were on that chariot?"

"Well, mostly, I was worried about burning to death. But Cinna is an absolute genius. And he's done it again, you see," she said, gesturing down at her dress. Caesar gave her the appropriate awed response. She glanced out at the audience, and Cinna was making a little twirling gesture with his finger.

_'Twirl for me.'_

Katniss stood, and she spun around quickly, red fabric dancing around her calves and jewels catching the light, as if she really was on fire again. The crowed awed their appreciation. She stumbled as she came to a stop, and Caesar caught her deftly. "Careful, we can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps, can we?"

"There would be a certain poetic element to it," Katniss offered, clutching him for a moment for balance.

Caesar laughed just as the buzzer went off. "Well, I'm afraid that's all that we have time for today. But I give you KATNISS EVERDEEN, THE GIRL ON FIRE!"

The crowd cheered Katniss back to her seat, where Peeta gave her a congratulatory smile before getting up for his own interview. Katniss didn't really pay attention to it—she was busy exchanging loaded glances down the row with Glimmer, rubbing Rue's hand in hers. And then—"See, winning... it won't really help my case."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because that girl that I like? She came here with me."

What?

_What_?

_**What**_?

_**What the hell**_? Peeta Mellark _liked_ her? They had hardly spoken a word before getting reaped. They had hardly even looked at each other, except for the incident with the bread. She didn't hear the rest of the interview, blood and shock pounding in her ears. Caesar gave his condolences to Peeta, closed the ceremony, and the tributes were herded in their line back across the street to the training centre. Haymitch managed to follow Katniss and Peeta into the elevator, as did Rue and—Glimmer? But Glimmer didn't need the elevator—the answer was provided when Glim came over to her side of the elevator and looped a hand around her upper-arm.

"Let me go," she snarled, wrenching against Glimmer's hold and hardly recognizing her own voice.

"No," Glimmer replied evenly.

"Why. Not?"

"If I do, you'll try to kill him."

"Try? Try! I'll kill him, all right! For that—" she cut off with an animalistic snarl, lurching forward. Glimmer, though, had been trained all her life—she could hold back an enraged, malnourished district 12 brat without any trouble.

"Honestly, Kat, I don't know what the problem is," Glimmer observed. Rue was standing to the side, watching her warily. Peeta looked intimidated, but not likely to back down—if Glimmer let go and Katniss came at him, he wouldn't try to run. Haymitch was also watching the whole scene warily.

"He made me look _weak_. After all of this, I was trying to look strong, and cocky and like I had what it took to win, and he went and undid it all!"

"No, Kat, he didn't," Glimmer snapped, exasperated. "He made you look desirable. More than a pretty dress, or a bunch of flames or an unheard of alliance ever could. You and I could send highly inappropriate innuendo back and forth all day, and we wouldn't accomplish what he just accomplished for you. You're strong. You're mysterious, oh, and boys, they fall into heaps at your feet on a daily basis, but you ignore them all. You are beautiful. You are desirable. You are tragic by circumstance alone. They _love you_. He did you a favour."

"She's just afraid that her boyfriend will find out."

"Gale isn't my boyfriend," Katniss protested weakly, falling back against the elevator wall. It dinged at eleven, and doors swung open.

"Goodnight," Rue said hesitantly, looking like she didn't want to go. Katniss paused.

"Don't. Rue, sweetie," she held out her arms. "At home, you share a bed with your siblings, right?"

"Yes."

"Come up with me tonight. I share a bed with Prim. Maybe we'll catch more sleep together."

Rue looked unspeakably relieved. She let the elevator door slide closed, Haymitch just shook his head. "I hope that you girls know what you're doing."

"We do," Glimmer said, flashing him a winning smile. "Now, who's this Gale that you mentioned?" She added to Katniss, as the elevator doors opened again on twelve. "Is he hot?"

"Yes, Glim, he's hot," Katniss said, sounding exasperated. "But let's not talk about Gale right now, alright? We're going into the Games tomorrow. Come on, this way," she added to Rue. Glimmer followed them down the hall, and Katniss found that she was grateful for the warm bodies that landed in the bed with her, in a completely nonsexual way—no matter what all of Panem believed her and Glimmer to be doing right now.

Even with added comfort, it was still difficult to fall asleep. Eventually, Katniss slipped out of the bed and crept up to the roof, settled down wordlessly next to Peeta.

"I just want to show them that I'm more than a piece in their Games," Peeta had finally told her. They both split up to go back to bed, Peeta giving her a weak smile and a "See you in the morning."

Katniss just snorted. They were going to change this. Even if they died, they were going to make an impression that nobody would soon forget.

**I'm afraid that it got a bit angsty there at the end, but my only excuse is that I was reading an angsty story at the same time, and the mood sort of washed through. There were the interviews, next time, let the Games begin. **

**Dawn: thank you for the idea, I'll definitely try to fit it in somewhere. I think that I'll have a little interlude with them in the control room, bickering over what to send them when. **

**I've had a few requests for Finnick/Katniss, but I really don't think that it'll work for this story. I think that Katniss/Peeta wins out, but I could easily write any pairing within the Games (so, Cato/Katniss or Marvel/Katniss or Thresh/Katniss as well). On that note, please go vote in the poll on my profile. The results of that will influence the pairings quite a bit.**


	4. The Hunger Games: Day 1

Early that morning—before the sun came up—the tributes were airlifted to the arena and placed in separate launch rooms. They were given trackers under the skin of their arms and left with their stylists—Cinna helped Katniss dress in her clothes, dark green pants and rain jacket, and boots with good tread. He braided her hair back and then they sat together.

"I'll be okay, Cinna," Katniss said, reassuring herself more than him.

"What about Glimmer and Rue? What happens when you have to kill them?"

"You'll see," Katniss answered. "I'm not worried. Just a little nervous. A lot nervous," she corrected herself. "What if we can't get away? Glimmer's trigger happy, what if I can't get her out of the bloodbath?"

"For all of her faults, you've got a smart girl there Katniss. She'll be fine. You'll be fine—all three of you. I can't bet, Katniss, but if I could, I'd be betting on you."

Cinna kissed her on the forehead at the same time as a mechanical voice announced that it was ten seconds to launch. He guided her over to the plate and helped her on.

The glass descended on top of her and she began to rise off the ground. Cinna tapped a finger under his chin—_chin up, girl on fire_. Despite her worries, Katniss followed this instruction, standing straight and tall. She burst into the arena with Glimmer on one side of her and Rue on the other. She found Peeta about five tributes down. The glass receded from around her, the scent of fresh air hit her nose. Glimmer shot her a quicksilver grin, and Rue managed to smile weakly as well. Katniss mimicked Cinna's instruction in Rue's direction—_chin up_. This seemed to help, because Rue straightened up. There were supplies arrayed out from the cornucopia, the most valuable at the mouth and things like packs and knives around the outer ring—except directly in front of Katniss, sat a silver bow and two quivers of arrows. Three bulging backpacks were in front of the three of them, several loaves of bread and some fruit and dried meat, a canteen of water, a length of rope, and a sash that was holding several wicked looking knives.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the 74th Annual Hunger Games! Before we get started, there has been a change in rules. In order to explore other angles, this year the possibility exists for a prearranged alliance of no more than six tributes to take the crown together."

Most of the tributes simply looked astonished. Rue's jaw dropped, and she looked accusingly at Katniss, who jerked a thumb in Glimmer's direction. "Damn, blondie, you must be an even better lay than I thought," Katniss muttered, only loud enough for Glimmer and Rue to hear her. Rue snorted, and Glimmer fanned herself.

"That's right, baby, I'm so sexy that I can change the world."

"And without further ado, let the 74th annual Hunger Games begin!"

A loud clock began ticking, the number sixty projected into the air. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight.

Katniss readied herself on the metal plate, positioning her feet to run to the supplies immediately in front of her. Glimmer and Rue did the same. Ten. Nine. Time seemed to slow down, blood pounding in Katniss' ears.

Loud gong—go! Go, go, go! She launched herself off the plate, and Glimmer next to her did the same. They both scooped up the supplies, each taking a pack, Katniss grabbing the bow and deftly notched an arrow, instinctively positioning it so that it could be moved to hit whichever moving target presented the most threat.

Wordlessly communicating, Katniss shoved two packs on her back, one over each shoulder. Glimmer went back to Rue, and ignoring her indignant shriek, hoisted her off the ground and onto her back. "Hold on, half pint, we've got to run, and you've got shorter legs than us. I'll let you down when we get further."

Rue huffed as Katniss frantically freed a knife from the sash and handed it to Rue, before shoving it over Glimmer's neck.

"There we go, we're golden. Let's move." Katniss sent an arrow into the bloody fray for good measure, moving lethally and silently—like she did with Gale in the woods. She watched Glimmer's back. Rue just held on and watched warily, and the three of them darted into the woods. After they had left the screaming at the cornucopia behind, Glimmer let Rue slide from her back and hit the ground. Then she warily collapsed against a tree.

"God," she muttered. "I didn't think it would be like that. How long do you think that it'll be?"

"I don't know. Another half hour at least, until the bloodbath is finished." Rue winced, and Katniss leaned over and kissed her on the temple. "I know. But there's nothing we can do except keep ourselves alive."

"And give them a good show," Glimmer added, grinning very nastily. "They'll never know what hit them. Come on, we need to find a water source. And someplace sheltered to sleep."

"We can go in the trees," Rue suggested.

"You can. And Kat can. But I'm too heavy for that."

Rue didn't dispute this, knowing that it was true. Glimmer was older, taller, and hadn't been malnourished all of her life—any tree that offered security wouldn't hold her past the lower branches, which wouldn't help in the slightest. "Maybe there are caves? I don't want to just get down in the bushes."

"No, that might be bad," Glimmer agreed.

If you didn't think about the horrible reason that they were here, it could have been a cheerful walk in the woods. The birds chirping, sun shining, screaming far behind them. Katniss kept her bow trained on the area around them, ready to shoot. Glimmer was ready with her throwing knives, even though she wasn't as good as Katniss. Finally, they stopped again.

"Half pint, go scale that tree and see if you can see anything. I want to know what's going on."

"Don't call me half pint," Rue muttered, swinging herself into the tree—a tall pine with good sturdy branches near the top—with ease. She scaled up the tree like she was walking up a flight of stairs, camouflaging into the branches.

"They're still fighting," Rue reported, swinging to the ground.

"How many dead?" Glimmer asked in a businesslike manner. "Could you see?"

"At least six or seven," Rue answered. "I could see that huge district two guy from here—he was flailing around killing everything in his path."

"Of course he was. I'm not that bad, am I? I mean, I'm a Career too. Though, a part of me _really _wanted to stay and fight. But they would have gone after me if I'd stayed. They think that I betrayed them."

"No, Glimmer, you're far more sophisticated than they are," Katniss said in a soothing, placating tone. "We should keep moving—we're toast if we can't find a water source, and going back to that lake is just a bad idea all around."

"First let's check what we've got," Glimmer said, pushing the pack off her shoulder to the ground, and following that with the knives. She opened the pack and started pulling things out, laying them in front of her.

Katniss thunked her two packs to the ground as well. "Fruit, bread, oh, look, iodine," Katniss listed, eyeing the spread supplies. They had four canteens of water, all bone dry (because what fun would it be to give them water right off?), a couple of bottles of iodine to purify the water when they found it, six pairs of glasses in total—Katniss tried a pair on. Sunglasses. Rue gasped and came closer.

"These ones aren't sunglasses," she whispered reverently, picking them up.

"What are they?"

"Night vision glasses. Put them on when it's dark—you'll see. We have three pairs and three pairs of sunglasses. Here, Glim," Rue took the smallest pair of sunglasses for herself and handed Glimmer the ones that looked like the height of fashion in the Capitol. "I figure that you want these ones?"

"You know me too well, half pint," Glimmer said affectionately.

"Is that _hair gel_?" Katniss demanded, digging to the bottom of one of the bags. There were spare clothes in here, for all three of them. And a hairbrush, spray and gel.

"Oh. Yep," Glimmer agreed, eyeing the bottle.

"Seriously? You asked him for _hair gel_?"

"My looks are my best asset!" Glimmer protested. "I have to do what I can to preserve them!"

"Oh my God," Katniss muttered.

"Okay, don't look at me like that," Glimmer pouted. "Like I'm some kind of lost cause. That's just not cool. I'd much prefer it if you would look at me like you want to get me into bed. That would be a good look."

Katniss smirked. "I always want to get you into bed, baby."

Rue threw her hands up in the air and hitched herself into the nearest tree. "Call me when you guys are done," she sighed exasperatedly, leaving Katniss and Glimmer smirking at each other. "And make sure that you watch the area. Someone could sneak up on us."

"Nah, the careers are too busy messing around at the cornucopia, and everyone else wouldn't go after three people at once."

"Still," Rue said.

"We should keep moving," Glimmer said practically, shoving items back into the bag and taking the opportunity to squirt herself with the hairspray. Katniss choked on the indignity as Glimmer attacked her single French braid next, diving down and dodging out of the way.

"Stop making noise," Rue hollered.

"Pot, kettle, black much?" Glimmer demanded back. "Hold _still_, Katniss, for God's sake! Your hair is getting everywhere, Cinna would be really mad at you."

"I doubt Cinna cares much about my hair," Katniss grumped back. "Considering the circumstances."

"I bet that _Peeta_ cares about your hair," Glimmer singsonged. Katniss groaned aloud.

"Glim, I'm not—I don't—how would I even _know_ if I like him back? We barely spoke back at home, and then he just says that he's in love with me and I don't know what to feel!"

"Why not give it a shot?"

Katniss stared at her in disbelief. "Maybe because we're in the _Hunger Games_," she shot back.

"That doesn't mean anything anymore," Glimmer scoffed. "If you want, we can go find him and ally with him right now. Do you want?"

"Yes!" Katniss yelled. "Yes, I want to save him, and maybe I like him and maybe I don't. And he's _in love _with me, and Haymitch said that's a good thing and I don't know what to feel."

Glimmer rolled her eyes, shoved her things back into the pack, and hoisted into place. "We should keep moving. We have to find water."

"Finally, the girl makes sense."

They traipsed through the woods for hours. After everyone had vacated the cornucopia, the sky was lit up with cannon sounds—eight eliminated in the bloodbath.

They didn't even realize that they were being gently herded until they found themselves face-to-face with Cato, Clove and Marvel—and Peeta, who had apparently teamed up with the Careers just for kicks—Or, more accurately, stumbled across them sleeping at their camp near the cornucopia.

"Thanks, baby," Glimmer breathed. "You got me a present."

Then, without warning, she hoisted Clove into the air around her waist. "Where do you think that I should put this? Up a tree?"

"We can't lift Cato. Ahh!" Rue shrieked, or started to shriek before Katniss' hand clamped over her mouth. She placed a finger to her lips and turned around to find what had startled Rue. Cato was awake.

"Cato," Glimmer greeted.

"Glimmer," he answered back. "Girl on fire. Half pint."

"Why does everyone call me that?" Rue demanded. "I'm not even short for my age!"

"We're going to put your district partner into a tree. If you help, we'll be able to do mine too."

"You have rope?" Cato wanted to know.

"Of course," Glimmer answered.

Cato smirked. "Always wanted something to happen to that little brat."

"So, allies?" Glimmer asked.

"We all know that if you guys die, the new rules will be revoked awfully fast," Cato said. "So obviously you're the ones to hang with. And you, girl on fire, how'd you get that eleven?"

Katniss just glared at him, and Glimmer rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her, she isn't housebroken. So, allies?"

"Sure thing, baby,"

Ominous wind ripped through the trees.

"Yeah, I wouldn't flirt with her if I were you," Katniss said, snickering.

"Why not?"

"Because her boyfriend, the head Gamemaker, will string you from a tree upside down by your toes and wait for you to die," Katniss answered cheerily. "Rue, get up in that tree, would you? Glimmer, when I'm situated, pass me the little sadist and we'll tie her up there. Can't wait to see the look on her face when she wakes up."

First, they tied Clove to a tree, and then Marvel. Then Katniss woke Peeta.

"Katniss? Run! You have to run, Cato's—"

"Right here," Katniss said. "Apparently, he's allying with us. Glimmer says he can be trusted, plus he helped me tie Marvel up in a tree."

"You're not so bad yourself, girl on fire," Cato shot back. "And you, loverboy, I knew you were lying to me."

"If you were so sure, why didn't you kill him?" Glimmer asked, helping herself to a few more supplies from the Careers' pile.

"Because I knew that, accident or not, he'd lead me to you three. And I've no intention of dying when I could get out of here alive by riding on your coattails. Let's just say that I'm not nearly as stupid as you think I am, and far more concerned with living than with winning. We can all win this thing."

"Makes sense."

"So, shall we wander?"

"I really need a drink," Glimmer said, digging through the pile some more.

"There's nothing alcoholic in there, Glimmer," Cato said. "Do you really think that they would put alcohol in here? Really?"

"Shush, Grasshopper, you have much to learn." Glimmer came up from the pile with a first aid kit and dug the bottle of liquid disinfectant out of it. "All we need to do is distill this, and we have very cheap and disgusting, but still alcoholic vodka." She grabbed a basin as well and upended the bottle into it, and began siphoning water into the mixture.

"You're going to _drink_ that?" Rue demanded incredulously. "That stuff is supposed to _kill_ bad cells. What do you suppose it's going to do to your liver?"

"Don't know. Don't particularly care. Cato? Bottoms up? Kat, bread boy? Rue, you're too young, you don't get any."

"That's fine," Rue said, looking nauseated. "I don't want any."

"Aw, muffin." Glimmer fiddled with the basin some before she pulled out a set of plastic cups and divvied a portion into four of them. "To our alliance! Everyone has to drink. Except Rue."

Katniss closed her eyes and prayed to a God that she didn't believe in to give her strength. There was no refusing Glimmer when she was like this. Cato happily took a glass, and Katniss and Peeta glanced at each other with dubious looks in their eyes before finally accepting the clear, harmless-looking liquid. Then they downed it.

Despite the fact that it tasted awful and felt like swallowing fire, it suddenly seemed like an excellent idea to consume more.

Rue sat and watched in disbelief as Cato, Glimmer, Katniss and Peeta proceeded to get completely fall-down drunk before her eyes. Then Katniss and Glimmer—well, apparently, there was more to that flirting than she had thought, because they were exchanging saliva at an alarming rate and apparently the Gamemakers decided that now would be the best time to infuse the speakers with some stupid Capitol music.

"Oh, God, my eyes," she finally moaned. "They burn! You guys! GUYS! Katniss, Glimmer! Seriously, please? Oh my God, seriously, they're taking their clothes off, and if you don't send me something to sober them up with, your girlfriend is going to be broadcast in a graphic lesbian porno all over the country!" she called to the sky.

She nearly cried in relief when a parachute floated down from the sky, four silver syringes attached to it. Rue unrolled the package and jammed a needle into each of them. They fell down unconscious and on top of each other nearly instantly.

_Little one,_

_Not much you can do but let them sleep it off. Send G my love._

_SC_

"God, _how_ did this become my life?" Rue demanded of no one in particular.

**I'm sorry. I really have no excuse, except that when it came time to write flirty, cracky humour about actual children actually dying, my stupid brain kind of dried up. Plus, the Hunger Games has more than enough issues without my help. I'm still not entirely happy with this chapter, but it is a chapter, and it advances the story the way that I had intended to advance it. **

**Blatant advertising time: if anyone wants to read my tragedy AU spinoff ending of this, it's on my profile, called Every Step I Take, Something Breaks Inside. **

**We had some Katniss/Glimmer tones in here, as well as a bit of advancement in the Seneca/Glimmer territory. The idea of a threesome has grown on me, as has the idea of Cato/Katniss... so we'll see. I'm thinking of doing an OT6 thing, with all of them plus Thresh (platonic, until Rue is older) with Seneca added into the mix wherever. **

**Disclaimer: I am not advocating underage drinking of rubbing alcohol. In fact, don't do it. Ever. And I know nothing about how to make vodka, so it's basically all guesswork, based on the fact that alcohol is alcohol, and all that she **_**really**_** needed to do with it was water it down enough for it to be safe to drink. **


	5. And Into The Woods They Go

"Here," Haymitch said, playing with the touch computer screen. "This shit cures hangovers; trust me on that."

Cashmere let out a very loud groan, Brutus snorted from where he was leaning against the wall, and Chaff laughed.

"I trust you on that, Haymitch," Cashmere snapped. "We are not sending them hangover cure. I say that we send something wonderful that the only responsible one can enjoy, so that we reward the twelve year old for her maturity and punish the rest for their stupidity."

"Let me get this straight. You want to leave your tribute languishing in her hangover and send the little girl from district eleven luxury food?" Brutus asked in a drawl.

"My tribute drank disinfectant, I'm not feeling too charitable towards her right now," Cashmere snapped. "Besides that, if we don't send something, the gamemakers probably will if only because they can't have their stars get themselves killed because they were stupid enough to get drunk during the Hunger Games. Brutus," she turned to the other mentor that dealt with career tributes. "Back me up here."

"I agree that the gamemakers will probably send something, they already have, in fact, they sent Rue that sedative—firegirl's getting up," Brutus cut himself off, turning to look at the screen where, indeed, Katniss was groaning and stirring.

She opened her eyes with a crack, took a moment to get herself oriented, only to find that her legs were draped over Glimmer's, her head pillowed on Cato's thigh and Peeta was sleeping on her stomach.

Haymitch, Chaff and Brutus leaned forward in anticipation of her reaction. Cashmere grabbed onto the joystick and switched their view to a camera on the other side of the arena, where Thresh was camped out under a tree.

"Hey!" All three of them protested at once.

Those that had been watching for Katniss' scandalized reaction would have been disappointed. She just sighed, ran her fingers through Peeta's hair and dropped her head back onto Cato's thigh, adjusting her position to be more comfortable. Then she jerked and bolted upwards again. Rue was sitting against the cornucopia, propped up against it, either to keep watch or so that she would be in a position to mock them when they woke up.

"What happened?"

"What's the last thing that you remember?"

Katniss wrinkled her nose for a moment. "I remember thinking that Glimmer's drink thing was far more appealing than it should have been. What happened after that?"

"You kissed Peeta, kissed Cato, _made out_ with Glimmer, climbed on top of the cornucopia and declared yourself the queen of the world, almost fell on your head except that Cato caught you, made out with Glimmer some more and had a dance party. Then you tried to undress Glimmer and she tried to undress you. And that was when Glimmer's boyfriend took exception to the whole thing and sent me a sedative that I used to knock the lot you out. Then you all sort of crawled into that convoluted cuddle and passed out."

Katniss groaned. "I've never kissed anyone in my life."

"Now you have," Rue answered.

"And my head feels like it's about to fall off, and what is my mother going to think?"

"I'm sorry, I have no sympathy for you."

Katniss growled, grabbed her bow from where it was dropped carelessly to the side, where all of the rest of the stuff was, and got up. She was fairly unsteady on her feet, but managed to stay standing. "I'm going hunting. And yes, I know that we have plenty of food. I just need to kill something."

"Well, you could use our sleeping captives for target practice," Rue suggested, gesturing to the trees that Clove and Marvel were tied in.

Katniss jolted suddenly. "How are they still asleep? We didn't drug them, did we?"

"Cato must've," Rue said. "Or Peeta. I don't know."

She stumbled forward, eyeing Clove and Marvel, who were still sound asleep in the branches that Katniss and Rue had put them in.

Katniss finally sighed. "This is ridiculous. Are you tired?"

"I've been up all night," Rue said sharply. "Thanks to you."

"Here, get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

Katniss settled in to Rue's spot, bow in hand, and Rue wormed her way into the pile of people for lack of any other option.

Several hours later, after Peeta, Cato and Glimmer had woken up and Rue had had the chance to get some sleep, they packed some things from the supply pile, not all that concerned that people would steal stuff from it and, in Cato's words, if anyone had the guts to try, then they deserved whatever they managed to get hold of anyway.

Then they wandered to the other side of the lake, since Rue said that she wanted to find Thresh, and nobody could find any problem with that. Especially since Cato had tried to recruit the guy before, and been rebuffed.

The problem was that nobody was sure how to get his attention and not get killed. As a result, Katniss led the way, checking for ways to track the path of a human being through this part of the forest, and Rue followed on her heels, silent as Katniss herself was.

Finally, Katniss found a sign, and dropped to one knee to examine the area. "That way," she finally determined. "He went that way."

Rue darted forward. "Thresh!" She called rather excitedly, her singing tone lighting up the forest around them. She let out a four note whistling tune that was quickly echoed by the forest—mockingjays, Katniss realized. Katniss added to the note, delighted by the way that the birds echoed their tones. Peeta laughed from behind them, and Katniss threw him a tentative smile.

Cato and Glimmer stared at them. Cato and Glimmer were not the type of people that had ever worked outside in the trees, or valued the sounds of nature. Katniss laughed and darted back to Glimmer's side, threading her fingers with the blonde's and whistling another tune. "Come on, try it," she urged.

Glimmer tilted her head and loosed a weak attempt at a whistle. Katniss laughed again. "Just your voice," she said. "Try with just your voice."

It really didn't take long. Soon Glimmer was harmonizing with Katniss and Rue, Rue periodically calling for Thresh as Katniss periodically examined his trail to be sure that they were on the right track. Peeta whistled a time or two on his own, and once he gained some boldness, twirled Katniss and Glimmer around and lifted Rue onto his back.

Poor Cato looked utterly lost. Clearly, this had not been what he was expecting when deciding on allies in the Hunger Games. Glimmer tried to get him to move properly with them a couple of times, but he was clearly uninterested, watching the others with a sort of wonder that made it obvious that, though the children of districts one and two were the fortunate ones as far as money and resources and having enough food, there were more kinds of currency than just money. That there were other things for them to be fortunate for.

Finally, they found Thresh. Thresh was sitting with his back to a tree, pack propped next to him. "You've been making a lot of noise," he greeted, enduring the hug that Rue bestowed on him, but not doing anything to hug her back.

"The joys of music, Thresh," Glimmer threw back. "Come with us?"

Thresh watched them for a moment, before finally locking eyes on Cato. "He can be trusted?"

"I have every reason to be loyal to them. There's no way that I'm getting out of here alive without them. And I'm not so prideful that I can't admit that."

Thresh nodded, not a man of many words. "Where are we going?"

"To bed," Glimmer announced. "I don't know about you guys, but I have a _wicked_ fucking hangover—"

"Why do you have a hangover?"

"Because they drank disinfectant liquid," Rue answered. "Just go with it. Our mentors are obviously punishing them, because they would have sent something by now otherwise and—"

Rue's point was rather rudely interrupted by a silver parachute floating down, landing with a gentle clunk next to Katniss, who unwrapped it. She unrolled the notepaper wrapped around it carefully and read it out.

_Sweetheart,_

_One good swig each should do it—it tastes like rocket fuel, but it works like nothing else I've ever seen. Would have sent something earlier, but Cashmere wanted to punish you guys, so we had to wait until she went to the bathroom. _

_Haymitch, Brutus, Chaff_

Katniss, Cato and Glimmer snickered, Peeta went red and Rue groaned loudly. "Really? Really?"

Katniss unscrewed the top of the heavy flask to reveal a viscous-looking green liquid. She sniffed it, and when she didn't identify anything immediately toxic, she pressed it to her lips and took a swig. She immediately doubled over coughing and collapsed to her knees.

"Oh my God," she gasped. "That's it." She waved the flask at Cato. "Here, drink. God, my head. It's clearer than I ever remember it being."

Cato took her word for it, and took a swig himself, and Glimmer and Peeta followed. "You can practically see the smoke coming out of their ears," Thresh observed, he and Rue watching the others with morbid fascination.

"I don't even know," Rue muttered. "Why?"

"How much you want to bet that Cashmere is flaying the boys alive right now?" Katniss asked. Glimmer smirked.

Meanwhile...

"You sent them a cure?" Finnick had poked his head into the control room because he lacked anything better to do, seeing as he wasn't mentoring and his tributes were both dead, anyway. "When Cashmere told you not to? Gutsy."

"Shut up, pretty boy," Brutus grunted. "That's my golden boy, out there—I'm not very well letting him wander around with a hangover."

"And it's Cashmere's golden girl," Finnick observed knowingly. "She was perfectly willing to let her wander around with a hangover."

"We plan to pretend that we didn't do anything," Haymitch said. "It's worked in the past."

Finnick snorted and threw himself into Chashmere's vacated chair. "Just planning to stick around and watch the fireworks."

...

"We should actually try to kill off tributes," Cato said restlessly.

"This isn't the Career pack," Katniss threw back. "We're not just going to stalk the woods for innocent children to kill. I'm _sure_ that the gamemakers will find ways to liven things up."

"Like the balls of fire coming our way?" Thresh asked acidly. He rolled smoothly to his feet, hoisting Rue around the waist. All of them scrambled up as one to their feet to stare at the clearly unnatural fire that was arcing through the trees towards them, and began to run for their lives.

**I am **_**so**_** sorry that this took so long. I have no real excuse, except that I've kind of run out of plot ideas for this lovely crack!fic, which is sad. It isn't abandoned, because I still love it, but between the little block that I have going on, and the fact that I'm planning on taking classes this summer, I'm going to have even less time. I'm still not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I figured that I would just give it to you, because it didn't seem to be getting any better.**


	6. Katniss Everdeen, Firegirl

Clove was so angry, she wanted to shriek. First Glimmer, then _Cato_? She didn't really know Glimmer. She was from District One—they were generally prettier and more polished. They had less immediate ability to be brutal than their District Two counterparts, and tended to win on the years that some freak accident took out the tributes from District Two early on. And then there was Four, but for some reason, this year, Four was utterly useless. The girl was mildly useful, but Clove could tell that even if she didn't have Cato, and herself, and that thrice-damned _firegirl_ to compete with, she still didn't have what it took to win. Which was why she had put a knife into her back herself.

The boy, on the other hand, was just terrible. He had been slaughtered in the bloodbath by some little brat from Eight with a lucky shot with a knife in the back.

Well, good riddance. Six in an alliance was a few too many, anyway.

But then again, they were letting six _live_. How could they! It destroyed the spirit of the Hunger Games! There wasn't any glory in victory, then! That was a quarter of the contestants!

But she had honestly thought that Cato agreed with her. Whichever of them won—and most assumed that it would be Cato, but Clove wasn't about ready to let that happen without a fight—would be the _only_ Victor. At least, she had thought so. Until Cato drugged her and Marvel. She woke up tied up in a _tree_!

It had to be Glimmer. And Cato must have left with them! How could he have? Didn't he understand that he was throwing his entire life away? Everything that he had trained for, gone. Lover-boy was gone, too, but Clove had seen that one coming. She wasn't sure what Cato had been thinking, not killing Lover-boy on the spot. He would obviously join up with firegirl and company as soon as they found each other.

Clearly, Cato might've been at peak physical perfection, but his mental faculties left something to be desired.

And now, she was stuck with _Marvel_! Who was a _complete_ letch, an idiot, and he couldn't even figure out how to get down from the tree without breaking something!

"Hurry _up_!" Clove snarled. She had cut her own bindings, and managed to reach over and saw at Marvel's well enough. He was free, now just clinging to a tree branch and not letting go.

Clove briefly considered using a well-placed knife to put him out of his misery, but he was the only ally that she had left, and against Glimmer, Cato, firegirl and Lover-boy, she'd need more help. Of course, there was also that twelve year old from Eleven, but Clove figured that she was just a dead weight.

/

Cato, Katniss and Glimmer were the head of the pack. Thresh probably would have been faster, had he not been carrying Rue, and Peeta brought up the rear. "This is your fault, firegirl!" Cato yelled.

"Why is it _my_ fault?" Katniss shrieked, ducking under some branches. "We need to find water. We can wait it out there."

"Because you're _firegirl_, stupid!" Cato hollered back as he grabbed a handful of branches and pulled it back to let Glimmer and Katniss pass. He glanced behind him to ensure that Thresh and Peeta were still keeping up, crashing through other undergrowth before releasing the branch. "They probably think that it's poetic!"

Glimmer stopped dead. "Firegirl," she breathed.

"_Glimmer_!" Katniss shrieked. "Run!"

"Firegirl! Don't you see? You're firegirl!"

"I don't get it," Katniss said.

"Tell it to back off!" Glimmer ordered.

"I'm sorry?" Katniss had stopped running now, too, as had Cato. Thresh and Peeta caught up. All five of them, including Rue on Thresh's back, were staring at Glimmer incredulously. "Do you mean the fire?" She clarified, her tone making it clear that she thought that Glimmer had lost her mind.

"Yes!"

Then they realized that they flames had caught them, surrounded them. They were standing in a tiny little clearing, fire circling it. It wasn't making any move to try to get closer to them.

Then the fire swirled, and sent a scorched piece of paper flying towards her head, and Katniss caught it automatically.

_Dear Katniss (Everdeen, The Girl on Fire, or, as Cato and Glimmer call you, Firegirl)_

_We thought, since we're breaking all of the rules this year anyway, we'd do some interesting experimentation. The arena controls can be keyed to brainwaves. We've keyed the ones that control the fire to yours. A thought can start the fire, and direct it. _

_A warning: The fire will not burn you, but if you fail to keep it away from your allies, it will burn them. So watch yourself. _

_Seneca, and The Gamemakers_

_P.S. We sound like a band, don't we? I think we should start a band. None of the others agree. __. -S_

_P.P.S. Send Glimmer my love. Rue didn't, because she was too busy knocking your drunken asses out. -S_

_P.P.P.S. You had better be grateful that I'm letting him do this. But it seems to be quite popular with the Capitol, and none of the Districts know what to think. –President Snow_

Katniss stared, open-mouthed at the scrap of paper, sure that she was hallucinating.

"Well?" Glimmer demanded impatiently.

"You're right," Katniss said, handing it off to her.

Glimmer scanned the paper as well, and snickered. "Aw, I love you too, baby," she called to the sky. "I told you, didn't I?"

"This is ridiculous!" Katniss yelled. "The alliance thing was... okay, _really_ weird, but I could believe it, between you sleeping with Seneca Crane, and the fact that we've got two Careers and four people from the two districts with the lowest win rate. It entertains people—I get it. But now they're giving control of the arena to a tribute?"

"I guess they think that it's entertaining, too," Glimmer said, shrugging. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Kat."

"If you really _can_ control the fire," Thresh said, sounding doubtful—Glimmer had passed the note off to the others once she was done with it. "Then can you make it die? It's getting hot."

Feeling utterly ridiculous, Katniss concentrated. _Fire, die. Fire, go out. Sink down. Disappear. Cool off._ Since the note had said that it read brainwaves, she tried to project a soothing, calming, _sleeping_ sensation.

She opened her eyes as the last of the fire sunk into the earth.

"No. Way," Cato muttered.

"Okay, so now the Gamemakers grant special powers," Katniss said irritably. "What's next?"

/

"Did they really—" Cashmere demanded, cutting herself off to gape at the screen.

"It seems that they did," Brutus said, snorting. "Should've known that your girl could start a revolution, Haymitch."

"What do you—"

"Let them mentor next year," Finnick said.

Everyone stared. "They'll be new Victors! The only one that's getting anywhere _near_ the control room is firegirl, because Twelve doesn't have another female mentor," Chaff said. "Rue will be _thirteen_. She can't be a mentor!"

"No, no," Finnick murmured. "Hear me out. You let them mentor, and the fans will be as attached to their tributes as they currently are to them! A few years of it, and we can transform the Hunger Games entirely. They'll come and compete in tasks, and then they'll get voted out based on their popularity and go home alive, and the winner gets a life of luxury and the District gets rewarded! They can change the entire structure of the Hunger Games.

"What are you even _doing_ in here, pretty-boy?" Haymitch demanded.

"Bored. I'm not mentoring, but even if I was, both of my tributes are dead," Finnick explained. "And you guys appear to be the best source of entertainment."

Cashmere snarled. "Well," she shoved a handful of betting slips and sponsor pledges into Finnick's hands. "Make yourself useful, and go and get us more sponsors."

"Is that allowed?" Finnick asked doubtfully. "I'm not even a mentor this year, and even if I was, I have no claim on any of your tributes."

"You're a Victor," Cashmere said exasperatedly. "That's all that's needed. Besides, I had you listed as backup mentor when you started teaching Glimmer how to be pretty, and Glimmer's allied with the rest."

"I wasn't teaching her how to be _pretty_!" Finnick shrieked.

Haymitch, Chaff, Seeder, Brutus and Cashmere all stared, astonished. "Wow," Brutus finally said. "Don't think I've ever heard something that high-pitched come out of a man over the age of twelve. Good luck with that, pretty-boy," he added, patting Finnick on the arm.

Finnick stormed out dramatically, and pouted after the door slammed behind him, and none of them had bothered to watch his flawless exit.

/

"Let's go find some tributes to kill," Clove instructed, after Marvel had taken over half an hour to get down from the tree.

"Good idea," Marvel said eagerly. "I wanna fuck Glimmer before I kill her."

Clove's eye twitched. "You are not going to _fuck_ Glimmer," she snapped.

"Why not?"

"Because rape in the Games is one of the fastest ways to lose sponsors," Clove yelled irritably. "Everyone hates rapists! The Gamemakers will drop a tree on you to prevent you from winning, if you get far enough. Rape and cannibalism, the two things that nobody ever does! Also, are you _insane_? There are only two of us, and there's five of them, if you count the little girl from Eleven. They may have picked up another one, because they're allowed six in their alliance. The massive one from Eleven, maybe. Do you _really_ want to fight him, Cato and Glimmer at the same time? You've watched Glimmer train all your life, she isn't a pushover. Also, Firegirl must've done _something_ pretty damn impressive to get that eleven. Nobody gets elevens. Damnit, Marvel, you must have a brain in your head! Use it!"

She turned around and huffed into the woods. Her stomping served to send several birds flying from the trees.

Thank god that Cato had left most of the supplies, though the ground around the cornucopia was strewn with a huge mess. Almost as if they'd had a _party_. Clove shook the idea from her mind, though—why would they be partying in here?

Clove's temper didn't last for much longer, thanks to spotting a flash of red hair and hurled a knife at it. The redhead from District Five collapsed in a dead heap, and a cannon went off.

That felt good.

/

"We're not going to get anywhere, if Clove and Marvel still have access to those supplies," Peeta pointed out, after everyone had gotten over their shock at Katniss' new 'ability'.

"Point," Cato conceded. "The boy from District Three was telling me that he could rig the explosives to protect them, but then Clove put a knife in his back before I could tell her not to."

"We've got plenty, and frankly, the Games probably aren't actually going to last that long—Clove and Marvel just killed someone, that's how many?"

"Eleven, I believe," Glimmer said.

"Out of the eighteen that we need to get rid of? Clove and Marvel, obviously, but who else is left?" Cato asked.

"So, including us as of last night, that's both from One, both from Two, both from Five. Girl from Six, boy from Seven, girl from Eight, boy from Ten—the crippled one, remember? I was shocked that he wasn't dead yet—and then both from Eleven and Twelve," Thresh counted. "And then a cannon went off just now, and it could've been anyone—someone might've been mowed down in that fire, for all that we know."

"What if Katniss burns them?" Rue suggested. "Just sneaks in there to set the whole thing ablaze? We don't need them—we've got plenty, and if we run out, Katniss can hunt, and Thresh and I can gather. We know what's poisonous and what's not—we'd be okay even without all of the supplies. But Clove and Marvel won't be."

"We have to make sure that Clove and Marvel don't come back when she's trying to make them catch," Glimmer pointed out. "That's a huge pile—it won't catch on fire if she doesn't light all of the right places—it'll just go out. It might take awhile, and we're screwed if Clove and Marvel come back in the middle of it."

"I've got an idea," Katniss inserted. "We make a trail of fires away from the supplies. Glimmer and Peeta, you guys go one way, Cato and Rue, you go another. Thresh come with me. Thresh and I will burn the supplies, but not until you've got them running away from them, too far to come back before it's too late."

"That's genius. But why... those groups?" Rue eyed Cato uncomfortably.

"Because you couldn't defend yourself against an attack, but Cato could. Cato, though? You don't have any idea how to light a fire, do you?"

"No," Cato admitted. "And what the hell, half pint! I'm not going to do anything to you!"

"Exactly. Peeta and Glimmer can both light fires, and can both defend themselves, so they'll be safe together. And Thresh will prevent anyone from putting a knife in my back while I'm trying to light up the supplies."

Thresh grunted.

"We have to start trusting each other—we have to trust Cato. He said that he'd work with us, and he has every reason to do so," Katniss added.

"Well..." Cato muttered. "Thanks, Firegirl," he said grudgingly.

That decided, the agreed-upon pairs set off in different directions—Katniss leading Thresh back to the cornucopia and the supply pile, and Glimmer and Peeta and Cato and Rue went in opposite directions into the woods.

**Wow, you guys are lucky. It's only been two days! And the whole Katniss controlling fire thing—I wasn't going to. I swear. But then I decided that if I can't be ridiculous in this fic, I can't be ridiculous anywhere. So. Here is the latest bout of ridiculousness. Also, Seneca and the Gamemakers may actually start a band... uhhhh. I think that I've had too much coffee.**


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